Sports offer more than competition. They offer irreplaceable communal attachments.

It’s what happens in the locker rooms that really matters to athletes in the end

There was a time not so long ago when every athlete in a school played almost all the competitive sports the school offered.  The athletes were not always great at each one so why did they do it?  Why did they play second and third sports instead of focusing on just one year round?  It’s simple, really.  Fun.  Companionship.  But there’s more, too.

You still see it in many smaller schools across the country.  That is, athletes playing multiple sports.  As in days seemingly gone by, these multi-sport athletes want to hang with their friends, go through the rigors of practice then sweat and toil alongside their buds in games, matches or meets.  It’s the camaraderie that draws them more than the competition, in most cases.  It’s the reluctance to miss out on the banter, the prodding and it’s the satisfaction of helping of one another through tough times.

And, you cannot minimize the essential importance of the fact that countless memories mount.  There is something about what happens in a locker room and on away trips in busses and vans that cannot be duplicated hanging out in a parking lot or cruising around town.  Sports experiences call on every athlete’s base need to not only discover what’s deeper inside themselves, but to get at the true heart and soul of their friends.  They love it.  They need it.  And nothing else can match it.

When athletes finally hang it up, the one thing they will consistently say they miss about sports is not so much the competition, but instead it’s their teammates and the bond which was welded firmly into their beings.  Men and women on high school teams are warriors and they get to experience something which none of their classmates can approach – a deep sense of communal attachment.

Long after the final whistles have been blown and horns have sounded, athletes fondly recall how high school sports formed their thinking, heightened their appreciation for cooperation, and cemented their loyalty to their cohorts.  Those remembrances are invaluable and last a lifetime.