When the sports world shut down on March 11 last year due to a positive COVID-19 test, I had no idea how hard the coronavirus was about to hit the U.S. I can still remember sitting with my parents as my dad and I both received the update from ESPN that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19, two days after jokingly touching all the microphones at a press conference. 

From that night on, I watched one major organization after another end their seasons, knowing the high school sports world would be the next to join the string of canceling seasons. 

Coming up on the 2020-2021 school year, no one knew what their sports schedules would look like or if they would even exist at all. Luckily, my baseball season is on as of right now, and regaining the opportunity to play sports my junior year has helped me revive the social aspects of my life.

Since I only attend school in person two days a week, finding the motivation to go out into the world can be difficult. Because of COVID-19, I have become more of a homebody than I ever was before, but baseball has helped me move away from that. 

The baseball season still hasn’t started, but without the off-season workouts and training for this spring season, my social life would have been nonexistent. Being a part of a team has given me a chance to interact with friends, especially in a time when interactions are supposed to be minimized. 

Going back to baseball workouts gave me a chance to slowly find my way back into the swing of things, giving me an opportunity to socialize with a group of people I was comfortable around. Because of baseball, I could move at my own pace, and I wasn’t just thrown back into everyday social interaction like other people.

I believe that social interaction is one of the most important aspects of anyone’s life, and really, baseball helped me regain necessary social skills.

According to Psychology Today, socialization can increase mental and physical health, as well as giving people the chance to live longer. 

Even in today’s world, it is still a necessity for me to have a chance to socialize with other people. The lack of playing sports is truly what opened my eyes to the social benefits that playing a high school sport has provided me with during these difficult times.

I still found a way to be social even with social distancing guidelines, and without baseball, that wouldn’t have been possible.