Haley

CHOOSING NOT TO PLAY LACROSSE

The decision was extremely hard. I cried a lot over it. My dad has been an athletic director for over 30 years and he has coached just about every sport. I have always looked to him for support, encouragement and inspiration. He told me it was my decision to make.  Since I was 5, I have been playing something. It was so hard to say I don’t want to play. I was thinking what am I now? I was coming in as an athlete, so now what am I? It took a long time to figure out. All summer, I was thinking do I go for a 6 mile run today because I am going to play or do I do something fun? Or do I think about it more? It was an extremely hard decision but it was the right one. I am an athlete, but there is more to me. I think I always knew that. I went into the coach that summer. It was hard to face her and hear myself say, "I am not going to participate in a varsity sport this year".