Not Just a Game

Sports have been and always will be a huge part of my family’s life. I have been playing and watching sports since as long as I can remember. Everyone in my family loves to play and watch sports. Our family has used sports as bonding for years. Whether it’s watching a college football game on ESPN or going a couple miles to downtown to see a Carolina Panthers game we always enjoy it.

A lot of times in our family when were at a struggle or things aren’t going well we tend to lean on sports as an “outlet”. For example; In May 2007 when my grandfather passed away after the funeral and a day of sadness our family went home that night and just so happen to watch sports to get our mind off the event. This shows that this great thing we know as sports can do a lot more good things that you can realize

Another way in which my family depends on sports to get off stress is in my cousin’s case. My cousin is fifteen years old and takes top-notch classes at her school and she always has. At one time in eighth grade my cousin was taking the hardest classes you can take at the school and she was in a family where she had high responsibilities with two younger siblings. Think there’s a little stress and lack of energy there? To get all of this stress off her mind she played three sports; softball, basketball, and soccer to relax her during the stressful weekdays. At the end of each week on either Friday or Saturday she would head out of town to play in travel basketball tournaments. These tournaments were not just countless games of basketball with lots of traveling; they were bonding time with the family. Usually when going to these tournaments it’s either my aunt or uncle going with my cousin. They enjoy traveling with each other and have great times in which they will remember forever all because of going to these sporting events.

If you are not a fan of sports I ask you to try and elevate your interest. Just a little competition here and there and a little talk of the games that took place the past weekend can really change your mood. Some people in our world today have jobs that all depend on sports. Coaches, athletes, sports writers, trainers, statisticians, and grounds crew caretakers – all of these people rely on sports not just for their money and profession but these people rely on sports to help them find light in the tunnel when things aren’t going great. This is why I believe sports is not just a game it’s a way of life.