Most of us played a few sports or participated in a range of different activities growing up. From a young age, I found myself wanting to try endless different sports because nothing stood out to me as something I enjoyed or wanted to continue doing. Although it took me a long time, I ultimately found my passion for swimming and playing water polo when I reached high school, but until then, no definitive path seemed to guide me. I now present my chronological and personal record of what sports I loved and which ones I hated!
Gymnastics: 4/10
Gymnastics was a short and sweet start to my athletic career. I participated off and on for a while when I was around five, but gymnastics never completely fulfilled my relentless boredom, and I became uninterested. I also don’t know why I was wearing a 49ers jersey with a tutu, and for that reason specifically, I am giving gymnastics a 4/10.
Swimming: 10/10
I joined my first swim team at the age of five, and shortly after, joined a competitive swim club. Although I took a break from competitive swimming during middle school, I always continued to swim in the summer, which thankfully led me back to swimming again in high school. Swimming has created so much joy throughout my life and it holds my favorite memories. I give swimming a 10/10.
Soccer: 3/10
I started playing soccer when I was around six and thought it was pretty fun, until I broke my arm. Breaking my arm had nothing to do with actually playing soccer, as I broke it while at school, but since I wasn’t able to continue my soccer season because of it, I never really wanted to start playing again. Because of this, I give soccer a 3/10.
Track: 7/10
When I was six, I joined a track club run by my mom’s old track coach, who she had in college. I definitely loved having her as my coach because she made the whole experience very fun for a six-year old and I really liked learning how to throw the javelin. Track was a perfect fit for me when I was young, but I did end up growing away from it and towards other sports. I give track a 7/10.
Skiing: 8/10
As my family likes to go up to Tahoe most winters, I started learning how to ski when I was about eight. I remember skiing always being so much fun because it was in the snow, and I could fall without it hurting, which I definitely enjoyed doing. As I got older, I started to have less time to travel up to Tahoe, which made me grow away from skiing a little, but the moments I do have to go with my family are always so much fun. The only thing I don’t like about skiing is moguls, and that it can be freezing, so I give skiing an 8/10.
Water polo: 9/10
After swimming for most of my life, when I was around eight, I also decided to try out water polo. The sport itself was cool, had interesting rules, and my swimming background helped me a lot, but the practices were not fun. Even though it was spring, I would be freezing the whole time because we were not moving as much as I did during swim practice and I got cold really quickly. I also did not like how much contact there was in the few games I played. For my first experience with water polo, I give it a 5/10. Luckily, I gave water polo another try in high school. When I started playing as a freshman, I learned a lot more about water polo and how to handle contact, so I really started to enjoy it. I also made so many new friends and better connections with my teammates in high school, rather than when I was eight, so I give my second water polo experience a 9/10.
Basketball: 7/10
When I joined middle school, I decided I wanted to stop swimming and try out basketball. I first joined the Rolling Hills Basketball team, and shortly after, decided to join a club basketball team which I continued doing until high school. Basketball was fun because I liked doing it with my school friends, but I started to enjoy it less as I got older because of knee problems that I got from running and it had a lot of contact which I still did not like very much. I give basketball a 7/10.