Sports! The way to enjoy interacting with peers, do something you love and get exercise.
Now for me, my favourite sport is football, and by “football” I mean American/Canadian football, not soccer. I play wide receiver on offence and cornerback on defence. Football is my all-time favourite sport because I love being part of an unstoppable team.
Only by playing football are you able to hit, tackle and have endurance. My mom says the “connecting with teammates” on a football team is not seen in any other sport and I agree. I know my teammates have my back and I will always have theirs.
There is one thing I’m sick of hearing and that’s people saying that football is the most dangerous sport because you get brain damage. Okay, okay, before you get into the hearsay and the stereotyping, it’s simply not true.
Of course, accidents happen but from all of the years I’ve played tackle football, (and I’ve been playing tackle football since I was seven years old), there has been one teammate in that time that got a concussion. It was at practice and he tackled wrong. That is the main reason anyone gets a concussion in football, tackling the wrong way! You’re not supposed to tackle by the shoulder pads or leading with your head! Also, you are more likely to get a concussion in rugby, ice hockey or soccer than you are in football.
I love football and my goal is to play for the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. If I don’t get drafted to Seahawks, I would like the Miami Dolphins, the Minnesota Vikings, or of course the B.C. Lions in the CFL.
I play other sports as well, including soccer. I have played soccer for North Delta for seven years. This is also my first year playing school soccer, (I made the junior team). In the spring, I will be starting rugby. I used to play baseball, but I didn’t have the passion for it that I do for football or soccer. I have always been one of the smaller kids for whatever sports team I’m on. It never actually bugged me while I was playing but it did bother me that I was always in the front row for pictures. I don’t why it did, it just did.
I played football with the North Delta Longhorns Football Association for the past nine years. However, this year, I had to leave and go to the South Surrey/White Rock Titans, because there wasn’t a team in North Delta for my age group. That’s because there is only high school football for Grade 9 and up in North Delta and I don’t go to the football school. At first, I was scared changing teams because I didn’t know how things were going to turn out. I’m really glad I did because it was the best decision I have ever made.
Even though I love playing sports, it’s not easy as I’d like it to be. First of all, I’m busy all the time. Having school, football, soccer, school soccer and homework can be really exhausting. I’ve also got chores and a paper route. I seriously have something to do all the time, so if I do have any free time, I have to make the most of it.
Everybody always asks me if I could do only one sport what would it be. The answer is simple: Football. I would give everything else up, including homework.
Alex Winter is a Grade 9 student at Burnsview Secondary in North Delta. He wrote this column during his time at the Now-Leader on ‘Take Our Kids to Work Day’ on Nov. 2.
edit@surreynowleader.com
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