The Locker room: our sanctuary by mikaila schmitt
When most people picture a locker room, they think of a sweaty, messy, crowded area that all the team members pack themselves into before and after practices/games. Our locker room has proven to be much more than that. One thing that separates our locker room from others, at least visually, is the fact that we actually keep it clean. We value and respect the space as our own and its cleanliness is not only due to our coach’s standards, but because we are grateful and responsible enough to take care of our privilege. And that is exactly what our locker room is, a privilege. It is not a guarantee, it does not come hand-in-hand with being an athlete, and it sure is not a dumping ground for all of our clothes, food, etc. We must earn our locker room, then we must maintain it, take care of it, and realize that at any given moment if we slack on our responsibilities, it can be taken away from us, and the process to earn it back is not an easy one.
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But again, our locker room is more than that. It’s a place where as a team we come together to laugh during the light, stress-free moments, and let all of our quirks and different personalities come to life. It’s a place where dance parties occur on a daily basis, along with frequent episodes of karaoke, which are debatably amazing or just plain annoying. But it’s also the place where we come together to discuss anything and everything, no matter how difficult of a topic it may be. It is during these times that we truly do build a bigger and stronger bond between the 16 of us. We connect on different levels and are open and honest about whatever is on our mind, which in turn not only builds a stronger team, but a stronger relationship among us, and a stronger culture.
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