In the United States, high school and extra-curriculars go together like peanut butter and jelly. Sports have practically defined my high school experience, as they have for millions of other teens in America. So, sports will also define this editorial.
As I have now finished my final season of golf and will soon begin my final season of baseball, I have realized this: it is so important that kids play sports in high school or join an extra-curricular where they can be a part of a team.
Friendships are usually one of the few things that we can actually carry with us once we graduate; while friends are made everywhere in school, there are none quite like those made when you played on the same team. In fact, this is so special, that they made a whole word for it: teammate. They are the people who you make daily Chipotle runs with, despite the negative balance in your bank account. To me, teammates are the people you spend more time with than your family—but you never complain because, to me, they are family.
While I had so much fun playing golf for Malden High, I only began playing the sport itself in my freshman year. Baseball, on the other hand, has been my life since I was held in the hospital room as a newborn. As a kid, my grandfather and I, who fostered my love for baseball, would play in our living room, where he would hit me hundreds of ground balls and not stop until I successfully fielded exactly 100 in a row. Every long summer night, I would fall asleep lying on him as we watched the Red Sox. My grandfather was in love with baseball, and he caused me to feel the same way. While most kids’ heroes were Superman or Iron Man, mine were Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.
While many people seem to believe that sports are nothing more than silly games, I am here to tell you that sports have so many lessons applicable to our lives.
Sports are vital to someone’s character development not only in high school but also in younger grade levels. Sports teach us teamwork, problem-solving, and perhaps most importantly, that sometimes we lose and do not get our way. At the same rate, they show us that despite a loss, there is always a second chance. We learn that when we fail, it is not over: all we have to do is work twice as hard and come back twice as strong.
When there are teammates you may not get along with, you put that aside, because at the end of the day, you are both on the same team. If they fail, then you also fail.
This also goes beyond many people’s idea of a traditional “sport.” To have a positive effect on a child, they do not have to be playing an organized sport, as playing pickup games with their friends will often have the same effect on fostering community and strong role models.
For kids in school, while it is tragic that children even have to undergo circumstances such as poverty, mental illness, and violence at home, time spent playing their sport or participating in a club, often with their best friends, acts as a temporary oasis for these children to escape their world for some time.
When I look back on my childhood, I have warm and fond memories of school, my friends, and my family. But the ones I remember the most, are the ones from playing youth sports in Malden. Sports create brotherhoods, sisterhoods, and best friends. I am sure others have similar feelings about participating in the band, or performing in the choir or in a play, or any number of activities.
Playing flag football was a pivotal part of my foundation of playing sports as a child. Now, every morning on my drive to school, I find myself looking out at MacDonald Stadium. I cannot help but reminisce on long summer Friday nights, where I met all of my best friends, running ridiculous trick plays named after Fortnite and, of course, causing mayhem at Pisa Pizza after. For me and many others, sports were also social events. Throwing a bunch of eight-year-old boys on a football field, there are bound to be some lifelong bonds forged.
To this day, my friends and I sit around our lunch table and talk trash about our old Little League
baseball teams, brag about who won the City Series in certain years, and still argue about who struck who out. The most remarkable part is the tradition and rich history of youth sports in Malden. All of our fathers were in the same leagues as us, and just like us, became best friends because of them. Even they still talk about their legendary games.
My favorite movie of all time, “The Sandlot”, perfectly illustrates this idea of the bonds created through sports as it is a beautiful story about helping new people, friendship, and baseball. For anyone who has not had the pleasure of watching this masterpiece, I recommend that after reading this, you go and give it a watch.
As I move into a completely new page in this new chapter of my life, I may never play competitive baseball again. To me this is okay. I have a lot to thank baseball for: making me close to my grandfather, as well as giving me countless hilarious memories and bonds that will last a lifetime. I hope what sports have done for me and millions of other children across the world can continue to have the same effect on my children and generations to come. A world without sports would be missing out on one of the best parts of being human.
