Personal Relationship with Sports

I grew up playing many sports, including soccer, tennis, and lacrosse. I do believe that

being a part of a team sport has shaped me into who I am today physically and mentally. What

got me into these sports originated from sports media. I would watch athletes on TV or any

forms of news where I got inspired to try out the sport.

Specifically for tennis, I remember watching Maria Sharapova on TV and thinking about

how I wanted to just like her. Social media in itself also motivated me. Not even having to do

with famous people, people that I knew my age would post about their soccer and lacrosse

tournaments and I got to see how fun it was to be on a team sport and play a sport that is

enjoyable.

For lacrosse, I didn’t try it until late high school because I wasn’t exposed to it before.

But, because I saw through social media that so many people I knew enjoyed it, I figured I would

try it myself.

Soccer on TV was a big one too. Our coach would make us go home and watch the US

women’s soccer team on TV because he believed that watching them would help us with our

skills and seeing how good they are at it. Hope Solo was my favorite to watch because I read her book at the time and was inspired by her. Through all of these examples, the media has definitely

shaped my relationship with sports in all different ways, yet still gives the same relationship

outcome. My favorite sport was probably tennis, because it was a team sport but independent at

the same time.