Thank you for: sports

I have grown up playing sports for as long as I can remember. I don't think I remember a time where my mom was not driving us around in our white Dodge caravan between practices. My coaches referred to it as the 'McGann clan van' and it was known for the variety of magnets decorating the back of the van representing all the sports my siblings and I played.
I remember days where I was dreading practice because we lost the day before. I remember coaches yelling and joking around with us. I remember running into a field hockey cage post just to tip the ball into the cage with the entire high school boys soccer team watching me. (kinda embarrassing) I remember running for hours in the rain and frost. I remember dreading 6 am practices in college. But I remember the bus rides, the partner drills, the inside jokes and the relationships I made while being a part of a team.
I have learned through sports:
how to be a team player.
how a team works, that if one person is struggling it brings the whole team down.
how it is so important to work as a unit on the field and to do the best to work together off the field.
how to be a leader.
how to build your team up and always have each others back.
how to push through when things are getting hard.
how to respect my coaches and other players (even when I don't always agree)
how I am stronger than I think.
how every person of a team is so important.

There are tons of things I have learned from being an athlete. I miss the nerves right before the whistle blows in the beginning of a game. I miss the adrenaline rush when you score or win a tough game. I miss the feeling of leaving it ALL on the field and knowing you did your best. I miss seeing the talents and abilities God made my body able to do as I push it. I miss the soreness and battle scars. I miss the friends I have made through the years. I am extremely thankful for the ability to play sports for a majority of my life and how that has shaped me so much today. It's sometimes hard to understand what it is like to be an athlete unless you are one. I am thankful for the struggles and the blood, sweat, and tears through all the years. So, don't let the field hockey skirt fool you....I can handle myself on a field :)