My Lacrosse Experience

When I began my sophomore year of high school, I would have never considered myself a student athlete. I had not played sports since I quit recreational soccer in seventh grade, and I was not particularly interested in sports. However, feeling the need to expand my experiences outside of the classroom, I decided to play lacrosse. As a 15 year old having never played competitive sports, I knew it would be a challenge to learn the intricacies that others had been mastering for years. However, I did not want that to deter me. Instead, I took this opportunity to engage in a new experience that would help me to grow in a new way. It certainly was a challenge set before me, but this challenge would prove to begin a time of personal growth not only physically, but emotionally as well.
Before the season started I committed
The previous day, I had received my gear from the supply room, and I thought I was prepared. However, I soon realized that being physically fit and knowing how to play was no substitute for experience. I had purchased my lacrosse stick about a week before the first practice and did not have much of a chance to use it prior to practice. When practice started, our coach separated the new players from the experienced so we could learn the basics. It was at this point I realized I had a lot to learn. Missing pass after pass I started to grow frustrated, and a tinge of regret started to fill my mind. As the practice dragged on, I continued to demonstrate my incompetence by dropping the ball while cradling and missing wide open shots. I was thrilled when practice ended and I was able to go home. The next two weeks of practices did not get much better, and I frequently contemplated quitting. I loathed that all my efforts did not seem to pay off, but in the end I was unwilling to accept defeat after just two weeks. I decided to face this challenge head on rather than walking away in fear of