Sport in Society SPAD Dr. Marta Guivernau. Spring 2013

Transcription

1 Sport in Society SPAD Dr. Marta Guivernau Spring 2013

2 COURSE: Sport in Society INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Guivernau COMPLETED: Spring 2013 ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Sportography Paper ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION: As stated in the syllabus: The goal of this assignment is to be critically self-reflective as you remember, describe, and analyze your sport experiences (and compare it with those of others), the contexts in which they occurred, and the impact they had on you and others who were involved and reflect on it from the background of class readings and learning on socialization. REFLECTIONS: This paper was one of my favorite assignments in this class. Since I absolutely love everything about sports, I really enjoyed writing about all of my sports experiences. I played lots of sports throughout my life and I was able to write about everything I accomplished in some sports and remembering the bad things that happened. My favorite sport was softball, which I played for about 11 years and had the most fun with. After writing this paper, one thing I wish I did when coming to college was playing softball, whether it was trying out for the school team of playing for a club team.

3 Alison Skrobacz Sportography Paper Kent State University

4 Ever since I was I was young I have been playing sports. It was something that I enjoyed to do and was able to enjoy it with family as well. I played numerous sports, but as I got older I just continued in the sports I liked the most. Playing sports was great for me because I made more friends and always had something fun to do on the weekends. The first sport I played was soccer when I was about five years old. I did not really like playing soccer that much, but I signed up because my older brother play and I wanted to do everything that he did. I played for about two years on the same coach s team, Coach Tom. He was a cool coach and his wife was the nicest woman because she would bring everyone juice boxes and snacks for when the game was over. Even after I stopped playing soccer, my coach still kept in touch with girls from the team and he invited us over to his house for barbeques in the summer, so the whole team would be there together. I enjoyed the time I played soccer, but it just was not the sport for me. Right after I stopped playing soccer, I started to play basketball and softball. I did not really know much about basketball at first, but I played because my mom said she would sign me up. At first I played for the CYO league, which is the team through the local church we went to. Once I started playing and learned more I really enjoyed basketball. I played for CYO for about three years. I liked it so much that I told my mom to sign me up for our town league, which was a little more competitive. I was really excited about it after I found out I was on the team with some girls I played softball with. That made it more fun for me to enjoy. However, after three more years of playing basketball, I started not to enjoy it anymore. It got boring to me mostly because I did not like the teams I was playing on. So when I got into middle school I stopped playing basketball. Softball quickly became my favorite sport. I did not know anything about softball when my mom signed me up, but she asked if I wanted to play and it sounded like fun so I agreed. Because I started when I was seven years old, there were girls on my team that started playing when they were

5 much younger, but I caught on quick. I remember volunteering to be a catcher when our coach asked who wanted to play that position. I had no idea how do to it, but because no other teammates wanted to, I though I would give it a try. It was hard at first; it hurt my legs and my knees, but after doing it continuously the pain slowly went away. I was a catcher for three years and I wanted to try something new. My next move was to third base, the hot corner. I played at third base for the next eight years of my softball career and I loved it. As I got older and moved up in the age divisions, the position got harder. That was when I really understood why third base was called the hot corner. During some games I would even be nervous about playing that position because batters would slam the ball right at me; I had to have very quick reactions so I would not get hit or hurt. However, when I started playing for the team in upstate New York, the coaches moved me to right field once they saw how strong my arm was. I still played third base, but very rarely. When I moved to upstate New York in high school, I joined one of the summer travel team that was being coached by the dad of a girl in one of my classes. Because I was new to the area I though it would be a good opportunity to meet new people and get involved in the softball programs there. Once I met with the team I knew I was going to like playing with everyone. I stayed with that team for three years, same coaches, a couple different players, but that travel team was my favorite time playing softball. We were all together for so long, it was sad once everyone started graduating high school and could not play anymore. Once I was a senior in high school the team broke up because we did not have enough players that wanted to play in the summer. I was upset because it was a great team and we had good times together, as well as great games. I remember one night we had a tournament game and my team was up by one. There were two runners on base and the girl at bat hit the ball towards our first baseman, but she missed the ball and it rolled between her legs. I was playing right field and the ball was coming right in my direction. By the time I got the ball one of the runners had already scored. I could see the second runner rounding third base and heading

6 home. So when I got the ball I picked it up and threw it as fast and as hard as I could. Once I threw it, I felt like I was in a movie; the ball looked like it was moving in slow motion and it was never going to reach the catcher. As I was watching, I saw the ball get exactly right into our catcher s glove in time and she tagged the girl out. I was ecstatic when that happened. If I messed up that throw, we would have lost the game. That was one of my happiest moments while playing softball. I also played softball my freshman and sophomore year of high school. The freshman softball team was so much fun. It was not as competitive as the junior varsity team so we were able to have some fun while we played and we still had a great season. When I was on the junior varsity team my sophomore year, it was much different. There was a new coach from the previous year and it was her first time coaching a high school team. At first I thought she was cool, but as the season went on I started not to like her. We had a good season, but I did not enjoy it as much as my freshman season. My junior year I could not play for the school because I had to get surgery and it was during the time the season was starting. I was upset, but I was going to play during the summer so I did not mind. My senior year was different though; I did not even want to try out for the varsity team because the new head coach was my coach from sophomore year. Because I still did not care for her too much, I did not mind that I was not going to play my last year of high school. Unfortunately I have not played since I came to Kent, but I would still loved to get involved in a club team. I still love the game and miss playing. Another sport I played was field hockey. My mom played in high school and I though it would be cool to play the same sport she was involved with. I tried out for the team when I was in seventh grade and I made it. I thought it was awesome because I never played before and I made it. I really enjoyed field hockey and continued to play it until my freshman year of high school. I played at my new school, but I did not like it as much because I did not like the girls I played with.

7 They were all stuck-up, rich girls and I did not like being around them. That was my last year play field hockey in high school. The last sport I played was volleyball. This was the last new sport I started to play in school. I joined the team in eighth, my first time ever playing. I always liked playing in gym class and I though it would be fun to play for the school team. Unfortunately I only played for that one year, but I did not get to finish the season. I was playing in a game one night and I went to slide in the floor and I hurt my knee. I was upset when that happened because I really wanted to play, but I could not finish the last few weeks of the season. One thing I wish I did was play volleyball in high school. I could not play my freshman year because it was in the same season as field hockey. I could have tried out the next year, but I just never tired and I ended up play softball throughout high school instead. Throughout my whole sports career, I have tried many different things, but overall had the one sport that loved the most, softball. I played it the longest, had the most fun, and had great opportunities and experiences. I still enjoy playing softball now, but I do not think I would want to play on a competitive level like I used to. And even though I do not play anymore, it will still remain my favorite sport.