By Joe Clinton

Senior Staff Writer

Sports have been a huge part of my four years at Hanover High. I’ve played baseball, soccer, basketball and rugby, and I couldn’t imagine not being a part of these teams. 

I made my closest friends on these teams. Your teammates become your family for three straight months and they take you through ups and downs of the season. This past fall, I started playing soccer with all kinds of new kids that I was never really close with. And when the season ended, I had 20 new friends that I would’ve never met outside of high school sports. 

Along with the family feel of high school sports comes a unique opportunity that you will never again have in your life. This opportunity is being able to wear your hometown team across your jersey and see the community rallying around you. This was something I truly took for granted until the end of my final basketball season. After playing my last game in the sold-out Hanover High gym, I realized how much it really meant. How much our teams mean to the community. How much our teams shape the youth athletics of this town. Representing the place you have lived in your whole life is really only something you get with high school sports.

Featured photo used with permission of DJ Meads Photography