What Sports Have Taught Me. Some important lessons can’t be taught… | by Lizzie Siegle | Medium

Some important lessons can’t be taught in the classroom. This spring break, the tennis team has trained hard, and our sore legs have reminded me of some of these lessons. In high school, I played girls who would go on to play D1 tennis. They’d been playing since elementary school, and knew each other from USTA tournaments. I was a newcomer — the one they knew they could beat. Even though I knew this as well (it was something my mom reminded me of often), I didn’t let them off easily. I put up fights, running for every ball and trying to just get one more ball in. My softball coach in elementary school called me “scrappy,” and I took this to heart, engaging opponents in lengthy rallies. The other teams’ coaches acknowledged this (translation: they probably thought I was pesky and annoying), but they said I was persistent and resilient. This mindset is useful in so many other aspects of life — school, job, relationships. I remember playing basketball freshman year of high school. The coa

Some important lessons can’t be taught in the classroom. This spring break, the tennis team has trained hard, and our sore legs have reminded me of some of these lessons. In high school, I played girls who would go on to play D1 tennis. They’d been playing since elementary school, and knew each other from USTA tournaments. I was a newcomer — the one they knew they could beat. Even though I knew this as well (it was something my mom reminded me of often), I didn’t let them off easily. I put up fights, running for every ball and trying to just get one more ball in. My softball coach in elementar