As high school comes to an end, some seniors are taking their last chance to participate in high school sports that they never have before.
“I just decided it’s my senior year, why not,” senior Chris Mendez said.
Mendez joined the varsity basketball team his senior year because it was his last chance to participate in something he had thought about his whole high school career.
Joining a sport is a large time commitment, and there are always reasons not to join it. But choosing not to play sport keeps athletes from potentially doing something great.
Senior Hannah Albertson felt the same pressure of running out of time. She re-joined basketball after quitting her junior year.
“Not doing anything my junior year, besides volleyball in the fall, just felt weird to me,” Albertson said. “So this year I went back out and played [basketball].”
But, joining or re-joining a sport your senior year does come with challenges. Practices and work-outs take up a large chunk of time, and pressure to improve your abilities is high.
Senior Sam Cone had a similar experience with the time commitment and all of the work to improve abilities, when she joined cross country this year. She was worried about not being good enough for the team.
“I thought that I would be really awful at it, and I was for a long time,” Cone said. “I had summer workouts and then when the season started I wasn’t too bad.”
Cone had wanted to join a sport, but always felt like it was the wrong time. However, with the end of high school approaching it became clear that if now isn’t the time, then it never will be.
Working hard to catch up to teammates is a necessity when you decide to join a sport late in your high school career.
“I learned that it’s good to push yourself to do something like that, and you really have to be devoted to it,” Cone said.
Sports aren’t something that just passes time. In basketball, cross country or any sport that someone chooses to join, they have to try their best not only for themselves, but for their coaches and teammates. Sports are something that you can work hard and improve in.
With all the hard work, joining a sport senior year seems daunting. But if students don’t go out and take that chance, they’ll never know what it is like.
Even with all the challenges that come with playing, Mendez realizes that it’s really just about “creating memories.”
