The sun is just about setting, and my friend Anna, a student athlete, sits down on the cool grass. This is the place where she often practices at home, outside of her regular practice. 

She has long, dark brown hair, and freckles are scattered across her nose. Her eyes are stunningly blue, and slanted downwards. All her features pull together a pretty face that naturally attracts people to her. Her legs, muscular from years of sports, are crossed, with her hands folded in her lap; She starts to talk.

She tells me she currently plays defense on her field hockey team. She has been for a while, and it’s been a big part of her life. However, it wasn’t always like that. There was a time when she had an entirely different part to play on the team. “I experienced midfield for most of my junior year, which had more action. But defense was ultimately the more fun position,” she explains. As she talks, she moves her hands to express her point. Her voice generally sounds a bit sleepy, and a little sad, as if she hadn’t gotten much sleep.

Anna elaborates that she started playing her freshman year, and is currently in her senior year. She’s planning on going to college as soon as she graduates, but she’s not going to play field hockey past high school.

She admits her feelings about first starting freshman year. “It was scary to try a new sport, but I eventually realized that I really liked it, and continued to play it for the rest of highschool.” As she speaks, she looks up at the sky, like the memories she’s recalling are formed in the clouds.

She explains that being on the team gave her new experiences, such as meeting the new girls that she hadn’t known prior to joining. This helped her to become closer to them, and form new friendships and bonds.

“It’s a unique sport, and it’s fun,” she says. But, the sport isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There can be some downsides to being a student athlete.

She describes the tougher parts of doing field hockey. It requires a lot of effort, time, and dedication poured into the activity. Sometimes it’s more than she can handle, and it can all be pretty overwhelming. Some days she feels a lack of motivation to continue. She says it can be physically demanding as well at certain times. 

“But I have to remember that building my endurance is key to getting better and improving,” She says, her voice strong, like her resolve. Her resilience and hard work is incredibly admirable. It’s very tough to keep up with a sport that demands so much of a person.

Anna spends many hours of her free time outside of school doing her sport. “I devote a lot of time to my sport,” she says, and she is clearly proud of it, as she should be. She practices every day for at least two hours after school, and on game nights she might not get home until as late as 8 or 9 PM.

“It’s really hard to balance life and sports,” she elaborates, and it shows in her face just how hard she works every day to maintain her social life and her other activities. She often has to cancel plans or miss other opportunities because of her commitment to field hockey. It’s tough, having to give up a lot to focus on an activity. But, she doesn’t regret it at all. She loves her sport, and would never quit. It’s become a hobby that she cherishes dearly. “Playing field hockey ultimately created many friendships that I wouldn’t have experienced if I hadn’t been a part of an inclusive team.” She smiles at this declaration, grateful for the opportunities playing has given her.

Anna has been playing field hockey for years, and it might get tough sometimes, but it’s still an important and treasured part of her life.