Personal Narrative: My School's New Flag Football Team

I was never a sporty kid. For the majority of my childhood, my hobbies have included reading, playing video games, and other generic nerd activities. If you had asked me if I wanted to play a sport, I would have laughed at the prospect, so I surprised even myself when I answered yes to my mother’s inquiry about joining my school’s new flag football team. I worried about it for the weeks leading up to the first practice, but eventually I decided “Why not? It may end up being fun.” Soon enough, the first practice arrived on a scorching Florida summer’s day. If I had to describe that practice in one words, it would be “painful.” Football practice was much more rigorous than anything I was used to, making practicing very difficult, but despite the …show more content…
I was not surprised—I knew the basic principles of exercise—but my knowledge had not prevented me from feeling like I was barely improving during those practices. The season finally began that fall, and I was disappointed to hear that I had not been chosen as a starter for the team. All hope was not lost, however, because the coach told the backup players that if we improved, we could be made starters. The season went on and I kept improving and finally, we made it to the state championships. After substituting in the end of the semi-finals, my coach pulled me aside and told me that I would be starting as middle linebacker for the final championship game. I had done it! We went on to win the state championship, going undefeated for the whole season. All of my determination to reach my goal had paid off at the very last moment. To my surprise, all of the jocks on my team had grown into trusted teammates. If I had not gone out of my comfort zone and joined the football team, none of that would have ever happened. My transformation was complete – I went from being just a nerd to being a sort of nerd-jock, a “nock,” and I could not be any