I enjoyed the experience of being out there alone, competing not only against others but also against myself. In baseball, I was a pitcher, and pitching is a unique position because while you're still part of the team, it's an individual role that requires personal effort within the context of a team sport. I loved standing on the mound, holding the baseball, and ultimately controlling what happens, good and bad.
Every turn at bat felt like a small, individual battle with the batter. It became a mindset I embraced and constantly pushed myself to improve for about five years.
Both of my parents were high-level athletes. My dad played football at Queen's and was captain for four years. My mom was a gymnast at the University of Toronto, and my sister swam Division I in the States. My brother was also a good athlete, and I was the youngest sibling. As early as I can remember, around three, four, or five years old, I was in the yard or basement shooting basketballs or playing hockey with my brother. My parents significantly influenced why I got into sports and enjoyed them so much.
Baseball and golf, in particular, were significant influences for me, as they were also big passions for my dad. We played golf together and threw the baseball around frequently when I was young. He coached me up until I went to Queen's to play baseball. That shared time was a bonding and connecting experience for us, and I learned many life lessons through those games, many of which were passed down from my dad and parents.
If you play sports long enough, you learn quickly that failure is far more common than success. Learning to deal with failure, reshape it, learn from it, and move forward is essential. Sports provide an excellent outlet for building resilience; finding that kind of experience elsewhere is difficult.
Another key lesson from sports is learning to be a good teammate and understanding how to put others or a common goal ahead of your own. Building and managing friendships in the competitive sports atmosphere, where relationships can be tested, is another valuable life lesson.
One of the biggest lessons for me was accountability. At an elite and university level, much of the responsibility falls on you as an athlete. Your parents are no longer there to remind you to stay on top of things, get your work done before heading to the gym, or manage your time. That responsibility falls on you. I did a lot of growing up during those four years as a student-athlete. I made mistakes, learned from them, and was fortunate to have some amazing coaches who were fantastic role models. Looking back, those experiences shaped me into a much better person by the time I finished.
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