When i was younger i enjoyed sport. It was one of my favourite subjects in primary school.
But i never really found a sport that i loved enough to stick to.
The closest thing was cycling and HPV in primary school. I was good enough, and enjoyed it, but then primary school was over, and high school began, and the only thing that being a great all rounder did for me was let me pass sport.
I think the main reason was that i never joined and clubs when i was younger. Many people i know that play sport for clubs have been playing since they were in primary school. I once tried playing soccer in year nine. My friend and i went along to the training sessions between seasons, but we gave up quite quickly. We weren't very good and we didn't know anyone there. About a year or so later another friend and i decided to try cycling. Her whole family (apart from her) loved cycling and were down at the local track every saturday morning training with a whole heap of other enthusiasts. My dad also loves cycling so he agreed to take me along. We lasted a little longer at this attempt at immersing ourselves in a sport, but once again failed. Theres something about riding around in circles that eventually bores you, and having experience riders constantly whiz past you at 100 miles an hour, and to have your family included in those packs of scary riders that kind of shoots your confidence.
So i resided to the fact that sport wasn't my thing anymore. Everyone had found their niche and it was too late for me. I had tried almost everything, i had a small fling with volleyball and cross country. i can swim ok, but have never had swimming lessons, so that was out. Basketball and netball annoyed me, i hated the no contact rules, and i couldn't bounce a ball to save myself. I never wanted to dance, netball always seemed to girly and i never understood the skirts. football was for the boys, the only fun thing about cricket was batting, lawn bowls was in a whole new league of boring.
The main thing was that everyone was stuck in their ways, and i had no friends prepared to start a volleyball team, and i didn't fancy joining a random martial arts club and being placed with all the seven year olds in the beginners class. It was no big deal. I hardly noticed as i moved more into the arts. Into visual arts and my piano i went, and i was happy in my extra curricular life.
But then, out of the blue, only a month ago, i found badminton. I was stuck at Uni for one hour and there it was. Social badminton. No competitions, just a bunch of nets, only six dollars a session with racket hire for free. I was excited, and i managed to get a bunch of friends at uni to go to one session with me. And now we go every thursday and have a blast. And i'm actually improving too. So just when i thought i knew who i was, along comes something new and challenges that image of myself.
Now i am finding myself traveling to uni, even if i don't have a class, to play badminton for three hours.