As athletes, we are often identified as the number on your jersey but there is so much more to each athlete. What does being more than a number mean to you?
To me, being more than a number means who you are off the field. Not just to your teammates, but to your family, friends, professors, and everyone else in your community. It means having other hobbies and interests outside of your sport. Being more than a number means not letting your sport dictate everything about your life.
To me, being more than a number has been hard to decipher over the years. Constantly making my whole personality an athlete without being able to find out who I truly am. The day will come where I play my last game and I will be lost of where to go or what role I will play next. My father always told me that “it’s just a game, there is life beyond soccer”, although that game has consumed my life up to this point. Underneath the number, I am a human being, with feelings, with so much love to give. Soccer has made me into the person I am today and I am very grateful. Being more than a number means remembering….it’s just a game.
Being a number among several other athletes, whether it’s your team or other teams at your university, is significant in several ways. However, it is what’s underneath the number that is the most important. Your character, your flaws, your experiences… Although I have been playing team sports since I could pretty much walk, the number on my back does not define who I am. It is simply a small part of me that will inevitably come to an end someday, whereas the lessons I’ve learned while wearing these jerseys will stick with me forever. Being a student athlete is a monumental sacrifice and commitment for young adults to endure in its entirety, but this does not make you who you are. It is easy to be consumed by something that takes up so much of your time, energy, and effort, but you are so much more than the number you wear on game days. You are somebody’s son or daughter, friend, shoulder to cry on, and that is more meaningful than being a number at any level of sport.
The number on my jersey is something I chose one random day in high school… I am so much more than that. Recognizing you are more than another number in a sport can be hard but is so important. I am my own unique person who loves to compete but also loves my friends, family, the beach, and so much more. I love volleyball, but I am much more than just another athlete. College athletics is such a small portion of my life, and soon it will come to an end. Afterwards, I will have so much more life to live, as I am a real person behind the number on my jersey with actual emotions and feelings.
I always have chosen a number based off of a meaning, because ultimately playing a sport I have always been playing for something bigger than myself. Whether it was for someone in the community who was no longer capable of playing a sport, or a family member that I had recently lost, I tied meaning to my ‘why’. Because at the end of the day, it is easy to give up on yourself in the heat of the moment, but it is much harder to let someone else down, someone who would do anything to be able to be out on the field on last time. Playing collegiate athletics it has shown me a whole new side to mental health, the toll that athletics can take on my mental health along with my teammates. It is a unique experience that almost bonds us all together, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The people that I have met and created lifelong relationships with has been worth every second of hard work. But, it is so important to be heard and felt understood, because sports end and you have your entire life to continue afterwards. If you are in a space where you feel as though you are not being listened to, it is because there is another environment out there ready to open you with open arms. At the end of the day, sports are a child’s game and are supposed to be enjoyed, if you lose the joy then you lose the reason that you started in the first place.
To me, being more than a number means who you are off the field. Not just to your teammates, but to your family, friends, professors, and everyone else in your community. It means having other hobbies and interests outside of your sport. Being more than a number means not letting your sport dictate everything about your life.
ReplyDeleteTo me, being more than a number has been hard to decipher over the years. Constantly making my whole personality an athlete without being able to find out who I truly am. The day will come where I play my last game and I will be lost of where to go or what role I will play next. My father always told me that “it’s just a game, there is life beyond soccer”, although that game has consumed my life up to this point. Underneath the number, I am a human being, with feelings, with so much love to give. Soccer has made me into the person I am today and I am very grateful. Being more than a number means remembering….it’s just a game.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, we are all human. We all have emotions and other things going on. It’s important to see the full picture.
ReplyDeleteBeing a number among several other athletes, whether it’s your team or other teams at your university, is significant in several ways. However, it is what’s underneath the number that is the most important. Your character, your flaws, your experiences… Although I have been playing team sports since I could pretty much walk, the number on my back does not define who I am. It is simply a small part of me that will inevitably come to an end someday, whereas the lessons I’ve learned while wearing these jerseys will stick with me forever. Being a student athlete is a monumental sacrifice and commitment for young adults to endure in its entirety, but this does not make you who you are. It is easy to be consumed by something that takes up so much of your time, energy, and effort, but you are so much more than the number you wear on game days. You are somebody’s son or daughter, friend, shoulder to cry on, and that is more meaningful than being a number at any level of sport.
ReplyDeleteThe number on my jersey is something I chose one random day in high school… I am so much more than that. Recognizing you are more than another number in a sport can be hard but is so important. I am my own unique person who loves to compete but also loves my friends, family, the beach, and so much more. I love volleyball, but I am much more than just another athlete. College athletics is such a small portion of my life, and soon it will come to an end. Afterwards, I will have so much more life to live, as I am a real person behind the number on my jersey with actual emotions and feelings.
ReplyDeleteI always have chosen a number based off of a meaning, because ultimately playing a sport I have always been playing for something bigger than myself. Whether it was for someone in the community who was no longer capable of playing a sport, or a family member that I had recently lost, I tied meaning to my ‘why’. Because at the end of the day, it is easy to give up on yourself in the heat of the moment, but it is much harder to let someone else down, someone who would do anything to be able to be out on the field on last time. Playing collegiate athletics it has shown me a whole new side to mental health, the toll that athletics can take on my mental health along with my teammates. It is a unique experience that almost bonds us all together, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The people that I have met and created lifelong relationships with has been worth every second of hard work. But, it is so important to be heard and felt understood, because sports end and you have your entire life to continue afterwards. If you are in a space where you feel as though you are not being listened to, it is because there is another environment out there ready to open you with open arms. At the end of the day, sports are a child’s game and are supposed to be enjoyed, if you lose the joy then you lose the reason that you started in the first place.
ReplyDelete