Editor’s note: Junior Khadija Sidibe is a member of our girls volleyball program and a writer for the school yearbook, Keyhole.

Of course when athletes play sports it’s a game, but to most athletes it’s more than just a game. It goes way beyond and deeper than just playing the game.

Sports are so much more than what fans, parents, and peers see on game days.

They don’t get to see all the physical aspects of the game. Like the early morning practices, the late nights they spend up trying to perfect their technique knowing they have class in the morning, and all the sacrifices these athletes make along the way. 

Sports are also about the trials and tribulations they go through, the resilience, because if they truly didn’t want to be there or continue these athletes could have just quit.

Beyond the physical aspects athletes go through, is the mental aspect. Some of the toughest battles athletes face aren’t even physical, they’re mental. 

Every practice, and game comes with its own set of new challenges every day. A million thoughts going through their head that nobody knows or hears but them. The pressure to perform perfectly every time they step foot on the field, court, or mat, the fear of failure or making mistakes, and all the self doubt that comes with it.

Playing sports is more than speed, strength, and agility. It’s about learning to get through every obstacle and tough days that come in your way and finding the confidence and