Growing up I wasn’t into sports. I never really found interest in wanting to play a sport nor did I like playing a sport (s). I never really saw myself being interested in one because I thought it was “only for boys” because a lot of sports are considered for only boys to play which is not true at all . I also didn’t have the confidence to play in front of people because I thought I wasn't good or I would get made fun of for doing something wrong. Fast forward to high school the interest in playing a sport became real . Even though I never really was interested in a sport, I always saw basketball as something I can potentially play. When i joined the team at my school I realized you have a lot of fun playing and you shouldn’t care what people think just play be cause you’re having fun.

Playing a sport is important because it has many benefits to you physically, mentally/emotionally and helps you socialize/communicate more and is good exercise for your body. When I think of playing a sport I think of getting active and moving around but I also think of having fun and playing something you have a passion for and that you really saw yourself playing .

The Centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) states ̈Sports help improve your physical health because it strengthens your bones, muscles and joints. It also has good effects
like having stable blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. ̈ As we get older these things start to affect us but if playing some type of sport you may not experience these things until you’re really old to where you can’t walk because you’re not getting any exercise and your body is dying on you . Physical health also prevents a lot of big diseases like heart disease , stroke , diabetes and breast cancer . Physical activity helps keep our body in good shape and health. Young teens/adults tend to not think about their physical health much because they think they’re still young and nothing will happen to them but the more you don’t get physically active the faster the chance of you living a longer life decreases because you’re not taking care of your body by being active physically.

Physical activity helps you mentally/ emotionally because it releases endorphins another word for "happy chemicals ̈ and reduces the levels of the stress hormones. It also helps reduce feelings of stress and anxiety . If you ́re anxious or stressed you can go play a sport and it ́ll take your mind off things. It makes you happy and your energy level increases which is a really good thing because as you get older you get tired really fast you don't have the energy to do stuff so doing a physical activity will decrease your chances of feeling tired . When you're always sitting down and not doing anything physical your body will get used to that and when you try to play a sport you will get tired really fast so you have to train your body to move and not just sit there .

Socializing with others wasn't my thing until I started playing a sport. You kind of have to socialize/ communicate, you have to talk to your teammates and help each other out by letting them know what's wrong or right . Socializing also helps you learn how to work with others and how to communicate more . When playing a sport like basketball you really have to  communicate with your teammates on the court because it's a fast paced game and you know to move fast and let your teammates know what move the other team is making to try to stop us from scoring . Communicating with your teammates helps them get on the same page as you so you guys can work together.

Playing a sport comes with a lot of benefits but 3 of the main ones are physical health, keeping you emotionally happy and communicating with others. We should really consider playing sports because it will help our body in the long run, it will keep us more emotionally happy and help us learn how to work with other people.