Growing up, we’re all told “you’ll make your best friends in college.”
For those who participate in college athletics, this proves to be true.
With similar interests and schedules, becoming close friends with teammates is virtually inevitable. If you’re anything like me, keeping this close bond with teammates after graduating is also unavoidable (not that I’m complaining).
After walking across the stage in 2013, four of my closest friends today were previously cross country and track & field teammates from college. These relationships have out-lasted many others for quite a few reasons. Somewhere in the course of experiencing “destruction days” (practice days consisting of very difficult workouts), long runs filled with long chats, early weekend meets, ice and sometimes ice baths in the trainers’ room, awful post-practice cafeteria dinners and team parties, we stopped being friends and became family.
My guess would be that many of you who play a sport in college — either for the school or intramurals — have developed family ties with teammates without even realizing it. To help you to see it, here are reasons why teammates transform from being friends to becoming family.
1.) You live together.
2.) You party together.
3.) You spend holidays together.
4.) You love their parents just as much as they do — if not more.
5.) You sit with each other on the team bus.
6.) You share clothes, and sometimes even deodorant.
7.) You offer to pay for one another.
8.) You keep in touch after graduating.
To no surprise, the more time spent with teammates, the closer you become with them. Don’t fight it and continue spending as much time as possible with them, both before and after graduating. Doing so will result in developing bonds like none you’ve ever experienced with anyone else in the past.
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*Section Photo credit to Getty Images and Featured Photo (above) credit to athletics.yccd.edu.
