Playing sports after high school didn’t really cross my mind, but Manchester gave me that chance and I’m so glad I made the decision to be a student-athlete. Here are my top 5 reasons why you should play a sport, if you have the opportunity! If you don’t play a sport, I would strongly encourage you to join a club or organization!

1. Stress Reliever: As soon as you step onto the floor, court, field, mat or whatever it may be, your problems go away for those few hours. For a couple of hours every day, you get to do what you love and not worry about anything else. Sports are meant to be fun, so take advantage of this opportunity to do something you love.
2. Pride: Making it through 4 years of collegiate athletics is no small feat. The sense of personal accomplishment when reaching your goals is like no other feeling.
3. Automatic Friends: Freshman year I was so nervous when I first started school. Meeting the team and getting to know them before school started gave me friends right away!
4. Preparing for the Workforce: There are invaluable life lessons that playing a sport teaches you. Learning how to work with others (even if you don’t always see eye to eye), time management, leadership, and taking direction from peers and those above you are just a few skills I have learned so far.
5. Family: My basketball team has really become family. We look out for each other and have each other's backs. You gain a strong support system of people that will always pick you up when you're down! Between coaches, teammates, alumni, and community supporters, someone will always be there to help!