{"id":1318,"date":"2016-12-13T12:10:01","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T17:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=1318"},"modified":"2016-12-13T12:10:01","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T17:10:01","slug":"get-in-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=1318","title":{"rendered":"Get in the game?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Landon Hudson & Brianna Moynihan<\/strong>
\nThe Bucs’ Blade
\nGrand Haven HS
\n1st Place
\nDivision 1, News Writing
\nPro\/Con Editorial Columns<\/p>\n


\nIt’s okay not to play
\n<\/strong>\u201cSo what sports do you play?\u201d The dreaded question.<\/p>\n

Expectant eyes of bosses, parents, teachers and classmates wait to hear \u201cvolleyball,\u201d \u201cbasketball,\u201d \u201csoccer\u201d or something with a practice schedule, uniforms and an easy follow up question.<\/p>\n

I laugh awkwardly as I give my response.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I suck at sports. So I don\u2019t play any.\u201d Their eyes dart to my long legs with a slightly shocked look as they think: \u201cNow what am I going to talk to her about?\u201d<\/p>\n

My grandpa had asked me a similar question the other night at family dinner. He waited half-hopingly for me to say I\u2019ve managed to make time for a sport between work, committees, councils, Bucs\u2019 Blade, clubs, volunteering, homework, a social life, and oh-dinner.<\/p>\n

But I shook my head and said, \u201cNope, I\u2019m still not into playing sports, Poppy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He leaned in closer as if he were telling me the secret to success.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports improve college applications. And guys like girls who are athletic.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years that response used to make me feel disappointed in myself. Despite being an award-winning journalist and an involved A and B student, I never felt equal compared to anyone who was on a sports team. I grew up thinking I wasn\u2019t as good as everyone else because I couldn\u2019t run as fast, kick a soccer ball in a semi-accurate line, do a cartwheel, or withstand cold weather for long periods of time.<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m not disregarding athletics, there are
\ndefinitely many benefits. Obvious takeaways like
\nlearning to be part of a team, dedication, time management, pure enjoyment, and forming bonds are reason alone to participate.<\/p>\n

But the same holds true for any other activity. There will be loyalty to that club, council, job, or whatever else it may be. You\u2019ll learn how to manage your time, and there will be extra effort needed.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t tell you the number of weekends I\u2019ve given up for Bucs\u2019 Blade or the hours put into working on feature pages all so the average student can rush to the stack of copies, pick one up, and flip to the sports section. It was in those midnight copy editing sessions that I developed strong relationships, with a differ-ent kind of team, on a different
\nkind of field.<\/p>\n

And we hardly get the same appreciation as varsity players. Walking through the hallways, last names run across the backs of sweatshirts, athletic bags sling over muscular shoulders, and congratulations on last night\u2019s
\ngame are high-fived.<\/p>\n

But even if your name might not stretch across the back of a jersey every Friday, don\u2019t think that what you do is overlooked.<\/p>\n

Not playing a sport is okay.<\/p>\n

I know that athletes receive more recognition than students who are just as equally involved in choir or Science Olympiad or First Robotics or theatre.<\/p>\n

I know that being able to put \u2018varsity athlete\u2019 on a college application certainly helps grant admission. But I know it isn\u2019t everything. You don\u2019t have to do bench presses in front of mirrors, dive into a 74 degree pool at 5 in the morning, or sprint until you have shin splints to feel accomplished.<\/p>\n

What you do does matter. It may not be a touch-down or a personal record. But it is important.<\/p>\n

It pays to play
\n<\/strong>
\nWake up at 6 a.m.
\nFinish homework.
\nAttend school for eight hours.
\nGo to practice for two.
\nGo to work.
\nDo homework until 1 a.m.
\nFall asleep.
\nRepeat.<\/p>\n

Add in a packed game schedule, team dinners, family obligations, an attempted social life and oh- dinner. Now you\u2019ve got a perfectly packaged stress bomb waiting to explode delivered in the form of a student athlete.<\/p>\n

So what is it about sports that has 7.8 million high schoolers in America lose out on sleep for? It doesn\u2019t sound easy, but Nike insists, just do it.<\/p>\n

I was in the athletic hallway before practice one day, and while I was filling up my water bottle I whined to a teammate about getting moved down in the lineup. I was getting awfully worked up about it. But then a comment made by a passerby really struck me, \u201cDon\u2019t get so upset, it\u2019s only organized high school athletics.\u201d So right there in the middle of the hallway surrounded by other athletes bustling off to practice or waiting in line to have a knee wrapped by the trainer, I had an awakening.<\/p>\n

Why was I so worked up? I realized that it matters to me, I was upset because athletics are what I care about, and I feel like that can be said for most students who pull on a Buccaneer jersey. We get so worked up and complain or cry because it matters to us.<\/p>\n

People will argue that a kid belting out a high note or working in a committee will learn the same things as one hurling a fast pitch. But I\u2019m going to disagree.<\/p>\n

There are certain things that can\u2019t be taught anywhere else but on a field or court. According to TrustSport.org, longitudinal studies showed that compared to kids who did not participate in athletics, those who did had higher grades, expectations for themselves, higher self- confidence, stronger peer relationships, and the list is endless. And although other activities build character, legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, put it best, \u201cSports do not build character, they reveal it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when an athlete wakes up at 5 am to jump in a 76 degree pool or runs 5 miles in the rain they are not thinking \u201cthis is revealing my character.\u201d In fact they are probably asking themselves why they do it. But there is something indescribable that drives the athletes to willingly relinquish their blood, sweat and tears. Maybe it\u2019s the first day of a season when the equipment rooms are unlocked. Or perhaps it\u2019s picture day when they are proud to show off their uniform despite how old or ugly. It\u2019s being surrounded by your peers in the locker room knowing you all have something you\u2019re playing for. It\u2019s the knowledge that despite any differences at practice, they would still have your back. It\u2019s complaining about who got captain but knowing you\u2019d follow them off a cliff. It\u2019s the satisfaction after a win, knowing that it was all worth it.<\/p>\n

But the greatest part about sports is that there is one out there for everyone. Maybe you can\u2019t throw a ball at 55 mph and wouldn\u2019t be able to serve a volleyball to save your life. There are so many sports out there, give one of them a try. See what has 7.8 million kids hooked. Nike tells us, just do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Landon Hudson & Brianna Moynihan The Bucs’ Blade Grand Haven HS 1st Place Division 1, News Writing Pro\/Con Editorial Columns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,58],"tags":[135,20],"class_list":["post-1318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-nw","category-proconeditorialcolumns","tag-2015-16","tag-division1","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Riley Anson","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=4"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-lg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}