I looked up and it was then that I realized there was a 6'2" defender charging straight at me. I heard my teammate yell “Man on you!”, and not even aware of what I was doing, I quickly cut and dodged the defender for open space. I had my shot, so I took it. It was my first goal of the season! I loved the rush of scoring and wanted to do it more and more. All my teammates congratulating me on my goal made it even more satisfying. I went on in that tournament to score six goals and eight assists in the four games. That tournament was in Albany and a number of college scouts were at the games looking for recruits. I knew at that moment that the competition I was playing with, was enabling me to do something greater than I had ever imagined. At the start of fourth grade, when I first started playing lacrosse, I never thought that I might have the chance to play at the collegiate level. Knowing that there were a hundred other kids in that tournament that could grab the spotlight, I knew I had to step it up and I did. This was the tournament that resulted in letters from three colleges asking that I consider them and their lacrosse program. The last game of the day at this tournament was a great example of how competition changed me.
Our team was down 7-6 after the first three quarters of the championship game. There were only five minutes left on the clock and our team knew that we had to do something different to win. Knowing this put a lot of pressure on me and I was starting to feel it. My heart sped up, and I was sweating more than ever. I got the ball at half field and ran it up to 20 yards out. Nobody was sliding over to cover me, so I shot the ball as hard as I could. I saw the ball heading for the top corner and then the cr...
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...ls or dreams that they may never have been able to reach on their own. Whether it be sports, a job, or academics, competition can motivate people to do better and give them a better chance to achieve and even raise their goals. When someone is applying for a job, there may be hundreds of other people who want that same job. Just knowing that there are a hundred people that could separate you from earning a better salary can be a great motivator. I believe one of the best motivators in a persons life are their parents and competition. Your parents motivate you to do everything better and to try to continue to improve, but will pick you up if you fall along the way and let you know that yu can not succed without experiencing failure. Competition however can bring that motivation up a notch and cause you to do something you would not do with just your parents motivation.
It 's the day before my last high school varsity basketball game as a senior… Wow four years went by this fast who would have imagined this day would have came. All day I was thinking about the season ending. This game meant everything to me, it wasn 't any ordinary game. It 's a section game! Win or go home.. With it being my last high school game I wanted to close the chapter knowing I gave it my all. Practice was probably the most intense it 's ever been for me. Emotions were flaring and we were all on the grind.
All throughout high school I played on the softball team. Proceeding the season before where we went undefeated with a district championship, my senior year we were supposed to be unstoppable. We received a few new players to add on to our army and the entire school was counting on our run to state. I was so excited to have an amazing end to my high school softball career, but unfortunately my dream was cut short when we lost in the first round of districts. I did not know that loss would change me the way it did.
There are people who are not as motivated, they are often referred to as the underachievers. However, once they have someone to compete with, they are more likely to become motivated to improve and excel. This is where competition serves as a healthy motivator. There is a friend who was exhausted of being constantly compared to his overachieving older brother. This caused him to start studying and working harder in order to become just as good as his brother. The situation showed how he did not need to bring down his older brother in order to be just as successful. Competition serves its purpose, when one finds themselves competing with themselves instead of their competitor. When one is competing with themselves, they are allowing themselves to grow and improve to become a better person. They do not have to compete with someone else, nor degrade others success in order to make their achievements seem exceptional.
...slapshot from the point. Two minutes later the puck broke loose from one of the other team's defensman and landed on our most talented player’s stick. He is not only as fast as lightning but can also stick handle around any NHL team blindfolded. He made a quick move to the left, and then to the right. He took the shot which went top shelf on the right side. The second I saw the net move I knew we had done it. The underdog team defeated the 1st ranked team in the state championship game for Missouri high school hockey. An uproar from the mob of people could have been heard from two miles away. I couldn’t believe we had done it. We beat the odds, and took the cup. I felt shivers travel down my bruised and cut body. The hard work did pay off, for we had done it. The tears were flowing like the water dropping from the Niagara Falls. We were State Champions.
What I remember is playing in a softball tournament in 2013 with my travel team. It was championship game day and to me, that day was very important. I was playing outfield and it was a new position for me so I had no idea what I was supposed to do besides catch the ball and throw it in to the middle infielders. I was unaware that the ball would be so slippery from the wet grass, which made it much more difficult to control. As the game continued, it started getting very intense and all we heard was the crowd continuously yelling after every pitch thrown or play made. Soon after the fifth inning began, a shallow fly ball was hit to where I was in left field; I began running for it and all of sudden everything went black. I felt like I had just
Our All-Star team made it to State which was held in the warm July sun down in Terre Haute, Indiana. Pete, a short red haired kid was my best friend at the time, he would play second base and I would be the shortstop, we were the best two players on the team and we always had each other’s back. Before our first game at State, Pete and I always did our handshake but this time it felt more special because we were both so hype and caught up in the moment that all I remember him saying was “It’s your world. Get on base and let me hit you in, let’s go!” I was always the number one hitter and Pete was number two, the best two baseball players, so we were the ones carrying the team. To start off the game, I hit a double off the wall, pointed at the dugout and my teammates went crazy. The families in the stands started chanting, and it felt like I was on top of the world. Next batter is Pete, he gets a fastball over the plate and belts it into right field, I score and start clapping and our team is going ballistic as we started the game off to a quick 1-0 start. We all thought we had this game in the bag. After the top of the first we were on defense. Our best pitcher was on the mound and everyone in
With seconds to spare I arrived at batting practice and began to prepare for my game. I hear coach call out my name and as I he acknowledged that I was there he told me I was pitching. My brain shifted and went into a whole new mode, I was more focused and more determined than I have ever been. This was the biggest baseball game of my career and I 'm starting on the mound. Honestly it couldn 't have turned out any better, the fate of the pin and my team lied in my hands and I loved the pressure. The pressure made me thrive and before I knew it our team was marching onto the field for the national anthem. During the singing of the national anthem I peeked into the crowd and first row down the first base side was the little boy I met on the cart and his dad sitting right next to him. This game was for that little boy, I needed to impress him. I pitched six strong innings and my team ended up winning the game. It was the most exciting game of my career and the best part was being greeted with the best pin in the tournament after such a spectacular win. The little boy ran out into the middle of the field where we shook our opponents hands and in front of everyone in the stadium handed me the only thing I cared about besides winning. I was in the best mood for the rest of the day and I rewarded myself with a nice long sleep. I could only image what the next day had to
Every time I play lacrosse I feel like I am a part of something greater than myself. Being a part of something greater than myself, being changed in my life forever has made me think and feel whenever I play lacrosse. When I was younger playing lacrosse was a learning experience. Playing with more skilled or less skilled girls in lacrosse and playing different positions except for one every game, practice and scrimmage all the time makes me get a different perspective. Playing lacrosse for quick sticks has changed my life forever.
This motivated I to work hard in practice that next week. But I didn’t even get to play because we had all of our starters and probably because it was the last game of the regular season and we lost, but we still made the playoffs. First game of the playoffs was different I could feel it in the atmosphere. I had started for the first quarter because one of our best linemen said some disrespectful to one of the coaches and skipped practice so he was benched. I was getting whooped because I was going against some guy, who now plays at university of Miami and he was scary good. We lost again to the same team we played last week. The season was over I did way better than I thought, but still had a lot of room for improvement. Most of starters where seniors that, so I knew the starting spot was mine to lose. I still went to football conditioning but started to skip on days I didn’t feel like going and my coach would give me a hard time and he had every right to because looking back it now, I was hurting the team and myself by not being there I
In the 6th grade, I started to play defense and that meant you get a longer stick. When I got my first long pole, the shaft was glossy silver in color and the head was white, like fresh snow on the ground. That was my favorite stick because of the way it felt when it was in my hands and how I played in game with it. When I had that stick, I had so much confidence in my play. In about 7th grade I started to play for a team called Headstrong and was by far one of the most dexterous group of lacrosse players I have ever played with. Everyone played like they were experts and it was satisfying because we would have good teamwork. In my first tournament, with Headstrong, I played at Episcopal Academy. When I walked onto the field, there I saw a numerous amount of college coaches on the sideline, but they were for the upperclassman. I had such a great experience playing with them that I decided to come back the year after and I had another unforgettable experience. Ever time I walk on the lacrosse field I just feel like I can do anything. I take my first step on the field and I feel the dew on the grass unhesitatingly seeping through my cleats and chills go through my
There is a misconception that competition is bad, if a child can experience the thrill of winning and the disappointment of losing, they will be well equipped for the reality of life. Competition provides stimulation to achieve a goal; to have determination, to overcome challenges, to understand that hard work and commitment leads to a greater chance of success. Life is full of situations where there are winners and losers; getting a job; a sports game; not getting into a desired college. People need to learn how to cope with disappointment and then to look forward to the next opportunity to try again. Competition also teaches us to dig deep and find abilities we never knew we had. The pressure to win or succeed can often inspire more imaginative thinking and inspire us to develop additional
Healthy competition can drive people forward. Allowing a kid to doing what they want because they enjoy it can open them up socially by allowing them to reach out and teach others that don’t have that same niche. If we force a child to be overly competitive, this decreases the child’s ability to grow in other areas in life because they are too focused on being the best. If they don’t live up their standards of being the best, this will cause the child to be insecure about their abilities and they will constantly seek approval. Unhealthy competition can detrimental later on in life when trying to get into a great school, find a partner or in getting a job.
...etition makes it difficult to regard others as potential friends or collaborators; even if one is not a rival today, one could be tomorrow. The first step to achieving of being happy and healthy is recognizing the value of competition is built on myths. Just because forcing children to try to outdo one another is counterproductive doesn't mean they can't keep track of how they're doing. There's no problem with comparing their achievements to an objective standard or to how they did yesterday or last year. But if the people value their children's intellectual development, they need to realize that turning learning into a race simply doesn't work. By definition, not everyone can win a contest. If one child wins, another cannot. This means that each child comes to regard others as obstacles to his or her own success and this is why competition is not good for people.
The greatest achievement in my life would have to be my success in the sport of football. I started playing the game at the age of eight. It stuck with me throughout my life until now. During a football game there are numerous amounts of dynamic situations to be involved with. There are so many crucial actions that take place in the matter of seconds. In a certain instance in my life , the game had a strong impact on my life. It took place my senior year against our rivals, the best team in the district. That Monday we began preparing for the coming Friday. It was a typical week until I woke up Wednesday morning. I was routinely late for school running around the house. On my way out the door the phone brought me to an abrupt stop. Turning around, I started to sprint to the phone. A few steps into it, I crushed my little toe on the leg of my couch. Face down on the carpet, I proceeded to scream in pain. Answering the phone quickly got check off my things to do list. As soon as I could regain my sanity I hopped over to the couch and forgot about school. My toe suddenly turned black and swollen. It was the worst coincidence that could’ve happened to me. I went to the hospital later that day, where I heard that my foot was broken and I couldn’t play.
Yes, it is to a certain extent. Competition is good for us as it challenges each individual. Without competition, there would be no standards and we would not know how to improve on areas we lack. In addition, we may not know where we stand, be it mentally, physically and academically. Different kinds of competition challenge us in different aspects and helps us to progress and move with times.