This week, Andrew discusses why a student plays sports in high school and the expectations for an athlete at any competitive level.

The theme of this blog and the In-Depth Report this term is why do you play? Why do you choose to play sports for the high school?

We had decided to do this project before the Window performance a few weeks ago, but if any of you went, you heard the transitions of the dancers explaining why they dance and why they love it. It was a great performance by the way, props to them. You could hear in their voices that some were jokes or scripted, but every so often you could tell that the speaker really cared for what they did and had a passion for dance.

That passion is similar in sports, or at least it should be. I think that when you play sports you should give it your all. I could give you all the clichés about going home and looking in the mirror, asking yourself if you gave your best, but I’ll hold off. I think that people should play with a passion, a fire, like there’s a chip on your shoulder, like you have something to prove every day.

Now I understand not everyone is the same, and that some days you just don’t have it or can’t muster the energy, but bottom line you should be playing because you care. Think about it. Why would you spend 5-6 days a week on something you don’t care about? You devote probably an average of 10-12 hours a week to a varsity sport.

If you’re not into it, do something better with your time. You owe it to yourself and your teammates to give it your all. I’m not saying that when you go to a game or practice you shouldn’t have any fun or should be serious all the time because everyone prepares differently, but you need to show somehow that you do care. If you put in the work, it is fun to see the result. It is fun to play at a high level. It is fun to play with teammates  you know give a damn and put their best feet forward too.

No matter what coaches or your parents say, nothing can trump success. Success to some is winning, but each individual has his or her own version of success. If you experience success, you achieve something. Achievement should be what individuals, and therefore teams, should strive for. If a team is striving for the same achievements or goals, that is when you really have a lot of fun.

Obviously you play sports at outside of high school, too. And there are times when you can just joke around and not really care. However, I feel that the concept of why people play is often lost. I know I do my best to play like this, and when a whole team has a similar dedicated mentality, good luck trying to beat them.

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