It all started when I was around 14 years old traveling with my first baseball team for the summer. Creating new friendships and leaving the local teams behind so I can live out my dream of playing in college. Sure I was young but I felt like this team is what really made me feel this was what I wanted to do and showed me how many friends you can make from traveling all over the country with them and becoming closer. Slowly moving along the summer and as I grow up I realize maybe baseball is really meant to create a family and also take in the people who are just joining the family or in this case the team. 

When I was 16 years old I switched teams for the summer because the old team either quit or we all separated. At this point it felt difficult for me and the idea of finding a new team was urgent and needed before it was too late. Later in the winter around December, I left my old team and joined the Midwest Halos for the remaining years of my high school career. This team was very welcoming and made me feel like I was a part of the team for a long time. Starting off in the new family making new friendships and meeting new people I knew I was going to be here for a while. When summer came around I felt this was time for us to all become closer by being in hotels together spending time outside of baseball together and all the traveling we have done together brought us all closer. Throughout the summer I had developed a close bond with the main 3 people who have been in the organization for many many years and felt like they were invited into their home for a while. 

At about 17 years old, It was my junior summer. Last summer to get the college offers I needed. This was where the support of the teammates and my own family came in. I felt the support was different than the rest of my years. My coaches helped me out a lot and also helped out the whole team so they can see all their players move onto the next level. The combination of my teammates and coaches made everything seem possible even if I was struggling hitting wise they made everything possible. If I wasn’t allowed in the family and felt left out then I don’t think I would be where I am today and going to college next year for baseball. The ability to create friendships and a family with a team that you are playing your sport with for a while will also make things seem way easier and more fun. 

My final year of high school, 18 years old. Senior year feels like time is just flying by and your year feels way shorter. The family I have created over the years of highschool make me look back and realize the main people I am still friends with to this day I have played baseball with at some point or met them through a friend on my baseball team. The team this year has felt the most like a family because it has consisted of the same people on the team since freshman year. The chemistry and bond everyone has with each other as seniors is the best some coaches have seen to the point where they took an overload of players last year so the bond can continue to get stronger. With a couple of my closest friends I have known since freshman year or even 8th grade. Since then I feel we have created a bond where it's almost like a brother to me. We can argue and fight and then the next day we can be perfectly fine with each other and go out together. In the end I have realized that the ones who have been there for all my high school years showed that we have created a strong enough bond to make it feel brother like and it was through a sport. In the end I recommend many people to create a family through sports and continue to make that family stronger by adding more people who are around you a lot and it will create chemistry on the field and off the field better. Even if they are not blood related you can still make the friendships feel like a brother or sister to you and show that you are always there for one another to see each other succeed.