“Whatever you do, don’t get frustrated. Don’t ever get frustrated!”



I hear these words all of the time. From ALL of my coaches, and when it occasionally runs through my mind. It never fails, when I do get frustrated, I mess up horribly bad. It’s the same for every sport, softball, volleyball, and of course, cheerleading. It’s extremely hard NOT to get frustrated, but when I do, oh-boy! I try very hard to stay calm, cool, and collected. Mainly relaxed! It helps me out so much! It helps to get me pumped up for the next move or play, especially when I mess up really bad.

The score is tied, and the other teams best player is serving. She tosses it up, then BAM, it’s right there in front of me. I quickly pass it to my setter and back up, ready to hit. She quick sets it and I approach. I’m in the air, the ball descending. I quickly spike it down. My team screams in joy. It was a kill. Adrenaline. It rushes through me. It keeps me happy, excited, and moving. We rotate. The score is 24 to 25. It’s our game point. We serve. Their libero gets it up and it goes directly to her setter. She sets it for a middle. The middle hitter spikes it down, and our libero gets it up too directly to my setter. The adrenaline kicks in even more. I once again get back and ready to approach for my hit. She sets it up. I approach and swing. It hits directly on the line. A kill. We scream. We just won THE game.

Adrenaline helps me get through frustrations. Adrenaline helps to KEEP me relaxed. To KEEP me FROM getting frustrated. It’s the thing that keeps me calm, cool, and collected. It helps keep me being me during the games, tournaments, and competitions. Adrenaline vs. frustration. I choose adrenaline.

The score is tied, 0 to 0. The pitcher is not very fast, and not very accurate. I’m up to bat. Nobody’s on base. I step into the batter’s box. I glare at the pitcher. She winds up her pitch and releases. I can tell that it’s going to be a strike, so I get prepared to swing hard. The ball’s in place. I swing. It’s a grounder, but it was coming fast and hard. It whizzes by their short stop. I make a single. They tried to throw me out at second, but I saw the play before it happened. I knew what would happen if I went. The center fielder would’ve thrown me out. I stayed on first, and she threw the ball to the second baseman, and she drops it. I wanted to go, but I knew there was a possibility I wouldn’t make it. I didn’t want to risk anything! My coach told me good job. That it was a great hit. She gave me a high five. The adrenaline kicked in. The next batter was up. She line drove it to center field, but the center fielder missed it. I took off to second base. The center fielder recovered the ball, and threw it in. I slid. The second baseman missed the ball. I jumped up really quick and again ran to third base. They finally recovered the ball. I got to third. A few seconds later, the third baseman caught the ball, hoping to get me out, but was too late. My other coach tells me good job. The next batter was up. The pitcher throws a ball. Then another ball. But the catcher keeps the ball in front of her attempting to keep me from stealing home. The next pitch was a ball too, but this time the ball gets by the catcher and I steal home. I get the first point. Two innings later the score is 8 to 3. We’re winning. This time when I’m up to bat, the bases are loaded. The first pitch that I get is a perfect pitch (in my eyes) so I swing and send the ball flying through the air, past the center fielder, making another single, and sending all but one person home. The score is now 10 to 3. When the next batter is up, my coach sends me to second base on the first pitch. I make it there. On the next pitch, the batter swings and sends the ball down the third base line. The runner on third runs home, scoring a point because the catcher drops the ball attempting to tag the runner. The score is now 11 to 3. I also run, but only made it to third because the pitcher now had the ball.

My adrenaline was very high at this moment and still getting stronger by the second. My team was doing the best they’ve ever done, and the score was still getting higher. I was very proud of them, and still am! At the end of the game, the score was 17 to 7. We won of course! It was the best game that we’d ever played, and the best score we have managed to get (so far)! I would like to thank them for always trying their hardest even though we all get frustrated for losing and messing up sometimes they/we still try our hardest! Adrenaline plays an awesome roll in my life! Helping my teams and squads achieve goals, and win games! You should always try your hardest no matter what is happening! Even if your losing by a whole lot, you should try your hardest! Keep your adrenaline flowing and keep a smile on your face. It’s not that easy, but a little can go a long ways!

“Whatever you do, don’t get frustrated. Don’t ever get frustrated. Keep your head held high no matter what the end score is! Cheer your team up when their all down. Keep that smile on your face and it will spread to all the others! And don’t give up, don’t EVER give up! Stay relaxed and keep your adrenaline high! Believe me, if you do that, you WILL succeed!!!”