Walking Into The Bowling Alley

“What do you like doing in your free time?” he said. Instantly my eyes lit up and I fired back and said “Sports. I love playing sports!”. What happened next shocked me, he proceeded to yell out to the kids that we were playing tag and that I would be the one it. Kids began sprinting away from me as if I had the “cheese touch” , and I surprisingly began chasing them. It came to me naturally that I had to pursue them and challenge them. My love for physical activity was able to overcome my shyness and helped create a bridge for me to become confident. For the first time in my life, I felt comfortable around a group of unfamiliar people and was able to make tons of new friends.

I was sitting in the quiet wrestling trailer listening to the rustling of pads and the click-clack of cleats on the floor. Of course I was already dressed, my pre game routine always on time unlike my teammates. Ten minutes early is on time and on time is ten minutes late. Everything was tucked in perfectly, every string and undone shoelace was taped down. Our trainer had taped my ankles perfectly, unlike the useless student-trainers who always tried to tape us before Andrew could get to it. My cleats, tied as tight as possible. The spats on my cleats kept the jarring of the torn ligaments in my ankle to a minimum. The compact tape made me feel safe, a little pain to know I was alive, just how I liked it. My compression knee sleeve reached into my Nike socks, the white color faded and stained from the sweat and blood. My knee brace followed, perfectly tightened at every strap. The amount of tape covering every inch of my brace almost looked uncomfortable. White wrist tape and white gloves, the underside of my left wrist bearing a date, 7-28-12 as a reminder of the hard work. I could feel my hands clamming up underneath my gloves with every tap on the shoulder I received as my coaches passed by. My heart was racing, but my hands were still. I had forgotten the sound of the loud slow rhythmic thumps of the drums as we lined up outside the trailer. Bum-Bum-Bum, I was timing my steps with the slow beats as I got to the front. I locked hands with my two best friends and began

Last year, I experienced something that changed my life forever. It didn’t make me a different person, it just changed how I viewed things in our daily lives. Last year, I volunteered with a group known as Challenger Baseball. Challenger Baseball is a program, that gives differently-abled kids, a chance to experience all the fun parts of playing baseball. Each player is paired up with an able-bodied buddy. Not only do the buddies help the players play baseball, but they are also there for the player to talk to. Last year, I volunteered to become one of these buddies. At first, I was a bit nervous, not knowing what to expect. However, that fear quickly turned into joy. The smiles on all the players' faces, was more than enough to get rid of any fear. Although

My teammates and I were over-confident and had made some early mental errors. This allowed Cascade to earn three runs in the first inning, while we got none. In the huddle after inning one, our coach said, “Where’s the energy boys? You guys look flat out there!” In the next few innings, we found ways to pick up two runs, only while allowing Cascade another. It was a defensive battle, as neither team could get any runs. By the time we reached the sixth inning, the score was tied four to four. I started to get nervous, as I knew I would have a pivotal at-bat this inning. The first batter got on base with a walk. Our team, was very excited as he was the winning run. Our excitement instantly faded, as the next two batters struck out. This left me up with the last out. Our man on base had stolen to second, putting him in perfect scoring position. My teammates yelled from the dugout, “Let’s go Hinch! You got this big guy.” My coach said to me, “Alex, sit back and drive the ball. Make sure it’s a good pitch!” I could feel the pressure of the moment, but wanted to be the guy to get us the win. The at-bat started off slow as I got two strikes and two balls. On the fifth pitch, I got a ball right down the middle. I made a big swing at the ball and felt it come off my bat. Immediately, I started sprinting towards first and was signaled to go for second. The winning run had scored and our team went wild! We had won the game, and left Cascade with two victories. From this point on, I was much more confident. My teammates also felt a new sense of belief in me. The rest of the year was very enjoyable and left me with many new friendships! It was a summer I will always

Since I was eights years old, I’ve been hitting a ball off a Tee. Sometimes it becomes repetitive and boring, but stepping into a live batters box is where all of that hard work comes into play. Growing up, my parents would always find someone to give me lessons or find a travel team that seemed to be a good fit for me. I was fortunate to have parents to push me to become a better athlete and support me at all of my sporting events. I’ve had several, and I mean several, batting, pitching, and fielding lessons. Because of my ability to quickly learn something after seeing it done once, I picked up how to become a

The air was cold and eerie as my teammates and I got ready to take the field for baseball practice. Our coach called for a night practice in the middle of September following our devastating loss in the championship game a few weeks ago. “Let’s go! Start running laps around the field!” my coach shouted as players were still getting dressed and warming up. Most of my teammates still shattered by the championship loss weren’t feeling enthusiastic about practicing. We finished running our laps and moved on to the next portion of our practice which was long tossing. I wasn’t aware that such a routine practice would be the one to change my life.

Later that day I went home, I was so mad at myself that I told my parents and sisters that I won't do it ever again and that it was just a waist of my time, but to my surprise the next day I found myself at the bowling alley still struggling. During the practice the JV 1 coach came up to me and told me the most important thing in bowling “don't look at the pins, look at the second arrow”. It seems like nothing helpful but in reality it is. It's a small thing but it makes the game perfect. Thinking back I was close to quitting bowling but with one help from the coach my life changed completely. After two weeks of practice came the first match I was really nervous because I thought that other girls will make fun of me because I didn't get past 100, but in reality none of us did because we were starters first year bowlers we had a lot of things to learn to become better. In the middle of the season was another time where I was considering quitting, being a freshman I was asked to play with the JV team which mean the there are girls who are more experienced and have bowl for a year or even more. I was so nervous about again the judging me that I did really bad that math but the coach didn't give up on me yet, he wanted me to play for the rest of the season with his section, and that was the place where I learned the

I had been playing baseball for five seasons but still couldn’t get the hang of it. Since I was seven years old I could never hit a baseball, and now I was 9 and wasn’t any better. I could never take a roaring swing at the ball and let it shoot across the field. You’d think experience would make me wiser but nothing could. My father being the baseball expert he is would always drive me home after every game trying to teach me the basics. He’d say lock eyes on the ball and bring your hands toward it. He said it like it was a simple technique but it sure wasn’t for me. Baseball never was a second language for me like it was for my father and uncle. They had always played together growing up. My father would always have a fun stories about each game he played, and how

It was 9 a.m. and my mom barged into my room. She turned on my light and told me to get ready. The light hit my face forcing me to wake up. I could hear my mom and dad packing and loading our luggage into our truck. Today’s the day, I thought, Today was my last softball tournament for at least 4 months. I got that same feeling that I get when you go down the first arch on a roller coaster in my stomach. This happens every time I have a tournament or game. My stomach flips and I get butterflies in my stomach. I get nervous to make a mistake, make everyone mad, and frustrate everyone, especially my family. My anxiety consumes me and I get so nervous when the ball comes to me that my heart starts racing. I don’t want to be the one to let everyone down. But I’ve been getting better at not being scared. I’ve been trying to believe in myself more and have been overcoming my fear. I put my thoughts aside and got up, brushed my teeth, put my contacts on, washed my face, and got my uniform on. I brushed my my hair, put it in a ponytail and got some gel to slick back my hair. The gel felt like slime as I slicked it back on my hair, and I put my bow on. I went to my room to get my sweatband and was debating on what color I should wear to match my uniform. I decided to bring both of my headbands and decide which one I should wear today on the ride over to the ballpark. I got my bag that I had packed yesterday, double checked that I had everything I

When I went to my first baseball practice at the paauilo field It was very dusty and hot.when i went down to go meet the coach with my older brother i was shy at first but coach just told me its okay don't be shy.Then he told me lets see how your hitting is.I never had what i needed but coach said to go borrow a bat.When i was going to hit i never know how to hold the bat so coach told me hold it hi to your head and move your legs apart.I started Practicing until i started Getting better and better.When it was saturday we went to sports authority i had a list for the things i needed so i could buy my own things instead of borrowing.

I was about five years old when I started playing Baseball, and there was no doubt that it would be the sport for me to have a future in. I have gone through many failures throughout my life and with Baseball especially, because it’s not easy to make every play, because mistakes will happen. But, with going through all of those mistakes really taught me that I need to practice a lot more and go in confident the next time I get an opportunity to make those plays. It took some time for me to get used to realizing that mistakes will happen, but I won’t know when they will happen because its life, and nobody knows what will happen next in life. So it’s always important to approach things very confident, and give it your all.

Practice was going to be over in ten minutes, and I thought that everyone on my team, at least my best friend would come to ask me how I was feeling. However, not even one soul walked towards me to question my condition. I, quietly gathered my belongings, and started to head to the front of the school. While I was gathering the courage to walk properly, I called my mother and told her that I was done with practice.

During my childhood, I grew up in the town of Randolph, Massachusetts. Most of my childhood memories came to be in this town. Throughout my childhood, I had many memories that I still vividly remember to this day; learning how to ride a bike, graduating kindergarten and learning how to read and write. During my childhood, there were days where I felt unstoppable, but there were also days where everything brought me down. Even during these difficult days, there was always a place that I looked forward going to; the baseball field. I began playing baseball when I was about 7 years old; although some people found the sport tedious, I instantly fell in love with the sport. I may have not been a prodigy at the sport, but it was one of the only

I didn't see myself running around in circles, it just didn't excite me. One day after school my friend told me to come with her to track practice. I went with her because she was the person that I walked home from school every day. I saw her pick up this ball that was in a metallic color and throw it up the stairs. I also saw three other young women and two young men do the same. The track and field told me that I couldn't just sit and watch the practice, I had to participate. I picked up the foreign sphere shaped object and threw it up the stairs. I did very well for someone who has never thrown an eight-pound ball. The coach was fairly impressed with what I threw and told me to come back the next day so I can practice with the team

Within the thirteen years in both school and bowling, there has been an extraordinary amount of items that has helped influence my life and goals that I have for the future."Be a Leader. Not a Follower". This quote expresses how I choose to portray myself in everyday society, in quite a significant matter. Though my philosophy, I feel like that if I choose to be a role model, then this will help the future generations try to be the same way. With the guidance of various bowling organizations,I have been able to act as a role model and push for people to be more of a leader than being a follower. Bowling has been able to help me express myself in a unique way. I have been able to find a sport that accepts you, no matter the skill level that you are on.