What Fuels Your Fire?

Introduction classes at the local recreation center, the elementary Physical Education teacher explaining the basics of a variety of sports, and watching an older sibling play in their championship series. The initial spark is ignited before you even realize it.

That baseball field that could use some extra TLC, where you honed your swing. The cement basketball court where you perfected your jump shot after a long day at school. The street in front of your house where you and your friend from down the street dragged the net out of the garage to get a few shots in. That open field behind your house where you taught yourself how to do a bicycle kick. The spark transitions into a small flame.

You make your first team in middle school. That travel team that you didn’t make last year, calls your parents to break the good news that your hard work paid off for this season. You form a group of friends to practice in the off-season. You saved all of your chore money to finally get a new pair of shoes or buy a new stick. The flame is building.

The registration costs have increased this year and you get your first part-time job to help pay for your team expenses. You juggle schoolwork, practice, games, and a social life. Your team makes a good run in the playoffs. You go to early morning lifts and the extra practices offered on the weekends in the off-season. You meet so many new people at the invitational your travel team attends. Your sport is officially part of your life. Before you know it, time passes too quickly, and you’ve played your last game in high school or AAU.

But you decide you’re not letting go of it that easily. You’ve nursed that flame for so long by adding wood and timber. All of the people who surround you watch your flame turn into a fire. They watch with wonder, admiration, and pride. They are pouring into you just as much as you pour into yourself.

Some of us are lucky enough to continue playing in college, maybe even professionally. We take on volunteer opportunities at the local recreation center where we took our first class. Your children’s travel team needs willing parents to carpool. The athletic director asks you if you’ve ever coached and would be interested in coaching their freshman team. Your friends convince you to join their slow pitch softball league and now you have games every Wednesday. The flame may have dwindled a bit, but you just poured starter fluid to reignite the bright fire that once burned inside of you.

Did any of this resonate with you? Did a memory that just flash in your mind that you haven’t thought about in years? Many of us may have walked this exact path, but we all have a story.

We want to hear yours! What fuels your fire?

Tell us what fuels your fire