Writing the Self #3: An Eye-opening Practice

“Go girls!!”

“Keep it up!”

“Wow, look how you guys stick together!”

You could hear some of the teachers chanting words of encouragement from their classrooms as they could hear the in-sync clunking of our shoes on the ground, and more likely than not the heaving breathing that came with the speedy running as we were finishing up our hallway laps. Papers and posters that hang on the wall began to swing up, sometimes even fly off as we create a wind tunnel type of thing though the hallway as we begin to pick up speed near the end.

Finally, we made it to the doors of the auditorium ready to begin practice. Everyone guzzled down their cold water bottles to quench the thirst we created after running. There we sat on a freshly waxed hardwood floor and began to stretch the tightened muscles in our body just before our coach called us over.

“Hey girls look at the hoodies, aren’t they sick!” 

From the peanut gallery that sat before him you can hear many comments: “They look so good!”  “I cannot wait to wear them!” “We are going to look sick!”

“Not only are we going to get these, I have also ordered red cougar backpacks and duffle bags.”

We all sat there with so much excitement! It is like we completely forgot how tired we previously were from running.  “We are going to look boss.” “Other teams are going to be so intimidated by us!” 

… Well maybe not quite everyone was as excited as we thought. One of our teammates asked the coach if it would be okay if she can leave next practice early to pick up another shift at work. Little did we know that the reason for that was to be able to pay for these extra accessories we were getting. In no means have I ever felt rich, but this was a moment which made me appreciate and acknowledge my place in the middle class where my parents could comfortably afford for me to participate in school sports without having to worry about any additional costs that might come up.

Before this I never paid much attention to how fast the cost of sports add up. I have to admit that our team looks extremely cool, all decked out with matching attire and bags, but really it is not necessary. Just this specific year we plan to buy new matching hoodies, warm-up shirts, socks, backpacks, and duffle bags, all of which are not necessary to “be a good team.” Then come the costs of team fees, traveling for many weekends spending money for our school vans gas fee, hotel rooms, and eating out anywhere from three to six times a weekend. Admitting to some of these things might make our team look high maintenance, by spending the night in hotel rooms instead of staying in a school, but the socioeconomic status my teammates has always allowed this to happen without anyone being concerned or affected, until one teammate pointed out the challenges she was coming across this time. I felt so guilty for taking sports and other things for granted because there are many people out there who cannot afford the costs that are associated with such activities, while the position I am in has never made me withheld from sports that I wanted to participate in.