Sports

Sports are amazing for so many reasons. You get great exercise, meet new people, find strengths you never knew you had, feel like a part of something, take a break from the day, feel accomplished, and with a brachial plexus injury, find something you can do just as well or better than everyone else for once. I've slowed down with sports recently, quitting softball and only playing soccer on the high school team, but that doesn't mean they weren't invaluable to me growing up or even still now. At an age where time and energy are endless, sports are the perfect activities to start young. And with my BPI, they made sure I felt normal sometimes.

I played basketball from third through fifth grade, softball second through ninth, and soccer ever since I was four. Of course I tried other sports here and there but partially due to my BPI, these are the ones that stuck. That might sound weird considering basketball and softball are both pretty much sports you play all with your arms, but I figured out my own ways and made it work with those two because I liked them. I didn't quit either for any reason related to my BPI. I wasn't very fond of the uniforms in basketball and it seemed more of my brother's sport than mine so I let him have that spotlight. I lost interest in softball mostly because of the environment it creates because of the people involved including coaches, parents (if you ever really want to get to know someone, go to his/her daughter's softball game...that's when the truly crazy side comes out), and players. It's kinda sad cause I did enjoy it but I don't miss it much.

Soccer has always been my sport I think. I've played it the longest and enjoyed it the most. It is convenient that since I'm not a goalie, my BPI doesn't affect my performance at all besides throw-ins (which I do a pretty good job at avoiding) but I like to think it's mainly a coincidence that soccer's what I've ended up with. I never chose or stuck with it for that reason, I just love soccer because it's soccer. And I think that's how it should be. Through soccer, I've met great people, made great memories, and felt great about myself. And I think those are all insanely important things to have in your life.

Don't choose a sport because it's easiest for you or you're best at it or your parents want you to do it or it's what your friends play or anything like that. Don't let your BPI choose your life. So what if you love volleyball but you're not very good at it because of your brachial plexus injury? You can have even more fun than the varsity girls by playing at a rec level and I guarantee you'll meet super fun people. There are always ways to compensate or change things around so you can be happy doing what you love even if you're not ending up in the Olympics. Granted, I've never been a very competitive person but honestly I see no reason for you to waste these amazing years of your life being unhappy because you think you're being forced into only running track when in less than twenty years you're gonna have a job that leaves you only running every now and then for fun anyways. You have to start the fun now whether that means starting varsity football all day every day or rec soccer once a week! Choose what's best for you and makes you happiest, not the sport that everyone else is telling you will be the only one that works. I think, with an open mind, everyone should at least try sports because they can only bring you amazing opportunities and amazing people.