Rough Draft Personal Narrative

As much as I detested it at times, there was one sport that I participated in that was an integral part of my life for a few years during middle and high school. As I was growing up, my parents always made sure that I was involved in one sport or another. Their reasoning behind this was fairly sound, as they wanted to ensure that I was involved in something that would help me stay in shape and also allow me to bond and develop friendships with other kids my age. Because of this, while I was growing up I played just about every sport you can think of, including but not limited to, Baseball, basketball, football, swimming, and many more. One of the many sports that I played while growing up stands out amongst the multitudes however. What makes this sport stand out for me is the all of the trial and tribulations I went through, both physical and emotional, as well as the friendships and connections that I developed while I was participating in the sport. The sport that I look back on taking part in both fondly and not so fondly is wrestling.

For those who haven't taken part in competitive wrestling, it is considered by many to be the most physically demanding sport that one can take part in. The reason behind why it is considered to be so physically taxing is quite simple really, since it involves two men (or women) competing against each other in a contest of pure will, strength, and skill. Not only is the sport of wrestling physically demanding, it is also extremely mentally taxing as well. When you’re in the ring with another opponent, you both measure each other up, considering all the different techniques that have been drilled into you through countless hours of practice that you could potentially use against your opponent. So long story short, wrestling is really freaking hard both physically and mentally.

As I mentioned earlier, I participated in the sport of wrestling from seventh grade up through my freshman year of highschool. During this time I made some great friends that I still touch base with today, and procured many memories and stories. Outside of competitions, all of my time while I was wrestling was spent in our practice room located in the main building of our high school. This was a fairly innocuous room, since there's a good chance you wouldn't realize it was a wrestling room unless you knew beforehand or if you happened to be walking by it while we were practicing. Once you were in the room you would realize two things; firstly, it was a startingly small place to be cramming some fifty guys of varying ages for two hours to wrestle. The room itself couldn't have been larger than thirty by ten foot space, with the floor being comprised of three wrestling mats put side by side. Second, it was a remarkably bland space.