Dear America: Sports Make Good Relationships

Ms. Cullen

The Sutton Sammies gather after yet another game, enjoying the camaraderie that only comes through sports (Leo Colena)

I have played sports my entire life, and I have met hundreds of new friends along the way.  Sports is one of the best ways you can meet lifelong friends, especially for people in a small town like Sutton. 

I have been playing baseball with some of the same people since I was four years old, who are now some of my closest friends. You build a bond through sports like no other. You are forced to play as a team, and communicate in ways unlike any other. No matter whether you like some of your teammates or not, you have to be a family during the season.

High school sports are where some of the strongest bonds are made. Seeing each other in school and then forced to see each other at practices or games every single day, your team starts to feel like your family. When I am out on the field, I know that I’m sharing the field with eight of my brothers. 

 

As biased as it may sound, I know that the Sutton Sammies baseball team has better team chemistry than almost any other high school. It’s easy for us to love each other. We have six seniors on the team, and five out of the six of us have been playing together since kindergarten. We know everything about each other, and we play with amazing chemistry. As good as some prep schools or tech schools may be, they don’t have the level of chemistry that you have when you’ve been playing with each other forever. 

I met some of my best friends through baseball. Josh Jenkins and I have been friends since we were two years old. It started in little league baseball.

In basketball, it is no surprise that some of the teams with the best team chemistry make it further than teams with better talent. Our Sutton Sammies baseball team made it extremely far in the state tournament this year. Every single senior on the team has been together since they have been in 5th grade. They’ve all grown closer over the years. They all knew each other when they were younger, but basketball brought them all together. Every single season they become closer and closer, and it’s no surprise that they made it to the elite eight in the tournament.

Although I didn’t play basketball high school, I played from 5th grade to 8th grade and built relationships with the guys. Although I don’t play with them anymore, I still hold the same bond with all of them. If it wasn’t for basketball my friend group may be completely different.

This year I decided that since I was a senior I was going to play hockey. I only knew the Sutton kids on the team, and there weren’t many of us. I was nervous going into the season that I was going to embarrass myself, not knowing anybody else on the team. After a couple practices and I started to get to know the guys, it was one of the most welcoming environments I’ve ever been a part of. The guys slowly started to become my closest friends.

I was with them every single night for three months. We shared times in the locker room, on the bus, on the bench, and on the ice. I knew some of the guys before I joined the team, but hockey brought me together with them. After only one year I had felt like I was playing with these guys for all four years of my high school. I am still in touch with a lot of them and still hang out with some of the boys when I can. I would have never been connected with these boys if it wasn’t for the sport. 

Playing golf in high school was one of the best decisions I made. I played a sport that I love with so many guys who shared that love. I built great friendships with the whole team and every summer I hope to continue playing with them, even when I’m gone. Golf is a sport that you can play until you can’t walk anymore, and I hope to be able to play a few rounds every year with some of my friends even when I am an adult.

Without sports, I would not have nearly the amount of relationships I have now. Throughout the years of sports, I have been able to come out of my shell and grow great relationships with people I never thought I would. Sports will always be a part of my life and I will always hold the relationships I’ve made. I believe every young child to get into the sports world for the sole purpose of finding some lifelong friends.