Joining a School Sport?

[Iridescence]

Next year, I'm going into 7th grade and in 7th and 8th grade you can join a school sport. Well for 4 years, I played Basketball. I stopped when I was 9 because 1. We couldn't afford the fees at Biddy Basketball and 2. I injured my knee really bad so now my knees and ankles are really weak. But now I'm thinking of joining ether Basketball or Volleyball. I've never joined a team that played volleyball but I've played a few games.
But the problem is, is that I'm very insecure now. And whenever there's a a pep assembly, all the people involved in the sport is introduced and It's embarrassing going out there in front of the entire school. I just don't know whether or not I want to join a sport. .

[TakeTheLeap]

Hey there Fallon!
Thought I should let you know... Been there done that! I was in the marching band in high school, and they introduced us with the sports teams. I was also on the swim team which competed in the winter. We had 2 pep rallies each year - one fall sports and one for winter and spring sports. I had to get introduced for both pep rallies. It really isn't anything to be worried over though. Everyone's whooping and hollering anyway and a lot of times they barely even hear your name being called. And it certainly gave me the confidence to have my name called on senior night in high school in front of an entire football stadium of people! After that and some other experiences, I became confident enough to go out in front of an entire college basketball arena filled with people to have my name called on senior night and it was never a big deal, even though I don't always like the way I look. No one cares about that. They care that you're showing your school spirit.
Besides, being part of a team sport (as I'm sure you know from having played basketball) is fabulous for your self-esteem. It makes you feel better because you're doing something good for your body. It helps you with team-building, and learning to become somewhat of a leader (even if you're not the team captain), and it allows you to be a part of a group and make new friends. There's something special about building a bond with your team - my swim team always did a team bonding day before we started practicing and it was a blast! We learned a lot about each other and became closer as a group because of it, which allowed us to support one another.

Join a team! Middle school is a crucial age for beginning to discover yourself and forming relationships (not romantic relationships) with others, and it's important that you do so somehow. I always encourage people to join a sport, club, or organization in school. It makes school a heck of a lot more fun and it looks fabulous when you start applying to colleges as well!