My First Sports Team

I first joined the Track and Field team at Waipahu High School in my sophomore year. Besides playing basketball casually with friends, I had never been on a sport team. I wanted to go out more and be a part of something bigger rather than being a student who goes to school solely for classes.

Joining the track team with a body nowhere in shape was not an easy task. I had no proper running form, and my stamina was at an all-time low. The first day at practice had me wanting it to be the last. To warm-up, we had to run two laps around the track field, which was equivalent to half a mile. By the first lap, I was panting like I had run a marathon. When we got to the actual practice, we had to jump over a hurdle. To no surprise, I ate it. My leg got caught on the hurdle as I was jumping over and I landed face first into the ground. I was super embarrassed, but by the end of my first day, something had me wanting to practice more.

To my surprise, and even till this day, I had become a long-distance runner. This meant that at track meets, I would have to run the 800m (1/2 a mile), 1500m (~1 mile), and 3000m (~2 miles) events. I wasn’t able to qualify for the invitationals at my first meet because I didn’t match or beat the qualification times. While that may serve as discouraging for others, it’s what pushed me to train harder and run faster. Throughout the season, I was able to qualify for the more “prestiged” meets because I kept on pushing myself to do better.

I had no regrets joining the track team. I was able to meet new people, and I evolved my lifestyle from being a couch potato to an active runner. I felt a lot of personal growth as the season went on, and the thrill of meets and the sport as a whole had me looking forward to future seasons.