The Family That Plays Sports Together, Stays Together

This post is inspired by Fanatics for the Fanatics Family Campaign. They are the leading online retailer for everything sports--apparel, accessories, and other paraphernalia representing your favorite professional or collegiate sports team. Their Fanatics Family Campaign is trying to show that athletics is one of the best ways to bring families together.

A/N: My family has a TON of pictures of my siblings and I playing all our sports throughout our childhood. However, my parents just got a new computer and somehow lost quite a few pictures while transferring everything over...so, I don't have many pictures with this post, sadly...

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As long as I can remember, my family has been involved with sports; it's not just a hobby, it's a part of our lives. 

My dad is a marathon runner. He loves running and still runs, even though he is over 50! When I was very young, he'd take me running with him during his races, pushing me in a 3-wheeled stroller.

Then, at the tender age of 5, I was introduced to T-ball. My parents would record every game (it's so cute to watch me play).

At age 6, I played a season or two of soccer.

Between the ages of 8-10, I played basketball in the winter and softball in the spring.

I also dabbled in ballet, gymnastics, and jazz dance (but, just didn't enjoy it).

At age 10, I got back into soccer, and it stuck! But, I'll get back to that in a second.

In Jr. High, I was part of the field hockey team. In High School, I played on the volleyball and indoor soccer teams.

Even when I went off to college, I played intramural soccer and volleyball.

Top Left: Madison playing soccer, Middle Left: Paige dancing, Bottom Left: Bob and Paige marching in a parade, Top Middle: Bobby playing soccer, Middle: Me playing soccer, Middle Bottom: Madison playing field hockey, Top Right: Bobby wrestling, Bottom Right: Paige practicing cheer leading with our Uncle who was a cheerleader in college

My sister, Madison, played soccer almost as much as I did.

In Junior High, she also got into field hockey, as well as track and cross country, and continued those two sports in high school.

My brother, Bobby, learned wrestling from our dad at a very young age (but it wasn't his favorite).

He also got very into soccer and became a great defense player.

Then, he tried football for a few seasons until he blew out his knee. 

Now, he's content with marching band, and he's awesome at it!

My baby sister, Paige, played soccer as well! What can I say, we were just a soccer family!

Then, she really got into dancing and tumbling. She's on a dance team and is one of the best! She also took private tumbling lessons and now will be a 9th grade cheerleader!

So, as you can see, we are all very athletic and have to be involved with sports! I like to think that it was soccer that did it. Where we lived in Virginia, the community's recreational soccer league was very big and every participated in it! Friends were on teams with each other, soccer moms came up with snack and carpool schedules. My family went to every single game to cheer on whoever was playing, even if it was back-to-back games on different sides of the county. My dad even got involved with the administration of the soccer league, creating a website for them to register and buy uniforms rather than having to do it in person! He even coached all three of my siblings' teams at one point or another, even though he'd never played soccer himself. We were very devoted. And because of that, I couldn't leave soccer going into college. I joined intramural teams with my friends in my church congregation. So, not only has soccer helped bring my family closer together in supporting each other, but it's also strengthened my friendships.

The same with volleyball. I continued doing intramural leagues in college. And guess what, my husband played volleyball at his high school, too! That's actually how we first met! He saw me wearing a volleyball shirt from my high school. Before we started dating (but as we were initiating flirting), we were part of a volleyball team together. We've also gone to BYU volleyball games together because we love watching it. We've already decided that our children will play volleyball and we'll go to all their games.

But, more than that, I'm also a runner, like my dad. I don't do races (I have no desire to run a marathon, although someday I'd to run a half-marathon), but I still love running outside. Because of that, I wanted a 3-wheeled stroller. Now that I have one, once I get cleared by my OB to start running again, I'll be taking Rhys with me on my adventures. He'll run with me every morning and any races I do. I'll even be signing up for some races with my dad and the 3 of us can carry on the tradition of family closeness and togetherness he started when I was a toddler.

And, no matter what sport our children play, we will be at every game, supporting them and taking a bajillion pictures! (Oh, and I can't wait to be a soccer mom! No lie!)