Sports Extravaganza: Final Draft

As a child I spent more time outside playing than I did inside. When I was outside I was always playing some kind of sport with my brothers and neighbors. As the youngest of three children, and the only girl, I always felt like I needed to prove myself to my brothers. I’m sure they didn’t really care if I was good at sports or not, but I always felt since they were bigger, stronger, and older if I could beat them it would really be saying something about me. It would also provide me with a lot of bragging rights.

In the household I grew up in, we were always encouraged to get out and play as many sports as we could as often as possible. My father was really into sports because he had been brought up playing them and he invited us to share in his passion as well. If we ever showed any interest in a sport he would buy us whatever we needed or wanted without hesitation. We had equipment for nearly every sport whether we played it leisurely or competitively. I can remember going to out to the garage and seeing nothing but a sea of sports equipment; it looked like we had our own used sporting goods store right in our garage.

Living in a neighborhood filled with kids around my age who also loved to play sports was perfect for me. Early in the summer mornings all the kids in the neighborhood would wake up and come outside. On an ideal day the air would be warm and the sky would be cloudless, but regardless of the weather, we would still be outside playing. The only time we ever stopped to take a break was to eat lunch or when our mothers would call us in for dinner. If the sun didn’t have to go to bed every night, I’m not sure we would have either. As children living in Pittsburgh, we normally played sports like baseball, hockey, and football that were big in the area because there were pro sports teams for them in the city.

Different days meant different sports for us to indulge in. The neighbors who lived behind my family had an enormous backyard that was perfect for baseball. We spent countless summer days in what felt like our own little PNC Park. As the littlest one that played baseball, I was sure to be picked last. The only way I ever got picked sooner was if one of my older brothers was captain and they wanted to make me feel good. Once everyone divided up into two teams it was time to “play ball”. While playing, I often found myself with the taste of dirt in my mouth and my clothes sticking to me from my sweat. My left hand was always pruned after taking it out of my mitt between innings, and it always smelt like leather and sweat. Most people would not think of running in circles around bases for hours upon hours as fun, but it never failed to entertain us.

Some other days we spent playing street hockey. We had our skates strapped tight on our feet and in our hands were smooth wooden sticks with tape at the top for grip. The sticks smelt like a mix of sweat and mildew from us using them so much and from our hand sweat getting on them. We had two red raggedy, plastic goals that were worn down from being shot on so much, and the nets on them were once white but had turned a sort of brown from getting so dirty. We frequently found ourselves having to move the goals every so often so that a car could pass through what we claimed as our hockey arena. It probably wasn’t the safest idea playing in the middle of the road, but it’s the only place that was big enough for all of us to rollerblade on.

Hockey was always my favorite sport to play because it was the one I was best at and the games got quite competitive. We were constantly checking into each other and knocking each other onto the ground. We played every game like it was game seven of the Stanley Cup final where you either win it all or go home with nothing. My brother often found himself pretending to be goaltender Patrick Roy, his favorite player from the Colorado Avalanche; while I always wanted to be like Mario Lemieux, the star forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins. According to The Encyclopedia of World Biography on Patrick Roy, when Roy left the NHL he was the all-time career leader in victories and games played as a goaltender (Gale, par. 1). This would explain why my brother wanted to be just like him.

If we weren’t playing baseball or hockey, it’s likely that we were playing football. Steeler football was very big in Pittsburgh and still is. During the time I was living in Pittsburgh they already had four Super Bowl wins, which, according to the NFL’s official website, was only one shy of the San Francisco 49ers and tied with the Dallas Cowboys at the time (NFL Super Bowl History 1). This shows that the Steelers have a big football franchise and explains why people are such dedicated fans. We always started out playing two hand touch in the backyard, but it always seemed to turn into tackle by the end of the game. Since I was the littlest out of everyone, I frequently found myself being tossed about the backyard like a little rag doll getting grass stains on my clothes and scrapes and bruises all over my body. The only way for me to escape being flung like this was to outrun the competition. The only problem with that was that their legs were much longer and stronger than mine. Once I got the ball I was pretty much doomed to being knocked down, but this still did not keep me from trying my best in the game. No matter how much I got thrown around I would not stop playing because I could not allow myself to be called a quitter.

Although my experience does not seem exactly like Welty’s, it is actually quite similar. Welty talks about her parents not being able to afford books as children. She says “”my father was all the while carefully selecting and ordering away for what he and Mother thought we children should grow up with.” (Kelly 362). Just as Welty’s parents valued books when they were younger, my parents valued playing sports; therefore, they found it important to spend money on providing us with equipment to play whatever sports we chose.

Also, just like Welty uses the skills she learned while reading in her everyday life, I also use what I learned as a child playing sports in my everyday life especially when I started playing sports in high school. Always pushing myself to be my best when I was little formed good habits for when I was older. Once I got to high school, I refused to give up and I always pushed myself to test my limits not only in games but also in practices. It is probably because of the drive I had when I was little that I was able to be captain in two of the sports I played in high school. I also still use this drive when I workout while at school to keep myself healthy.

The work ethic I learned while playing sports also relates to my schoolwork as well because it taught me to never give up and to push myself to do my best. I also has made me competitive and showed me not to settle for mediocre work. When I do an assignment I make sure it is done to the best of my ability. I would be lost in life if I did not have sports because they have played such a big role in helping me become who I am today.


Work Cited

Gale, Thompson. “Encyclopedia of World Biography on Patrick Roy”. Bookrags. Web. 23 July 2009.

“History”. NFL.com. 2009. National Football League. Web. 23 July 2009.

Kelly, Joseph. The Seagull Reader Essays New York: W. W Norton, 2007. Print.