Sports Can Build Friendships That Last a Lifetime

Every friendship has its origin story. Mine with Elena just happens to involve a lot of smelly knee pads, long bus rides and questionable teenage snack choices.

We met in junior high and somehow landed on all the same teams – tennis, volleyball, basketball, softball. We weren’t glued at the hip, but we were the kind of friends who always seemed to end up laughing together on the back of the bus. One legendary day in high school, Elena bet me I couldn’t finish a whole bag of Smartfood before we pulled into the school parking lot after a volleyball game against Westhampton, a good 45 minute ride from school. Challenge accepted! Victory secured. Popcorn dust everywhere. She still brings it up like it was my first true athletic achievement. We literally still talk about it to this day!

By high school we had settled into varsity tennis and volleyball; more practices and games, visits to the beach between school and practice, more memories stacked on top of each other. At 20, we even entered a grass volleyball tournament in the Hamptons just for fun and walked away with prize money ($50 was a lot of money in 1993!), which felt like winning Wimbledon and the Olympics combined.

Fast-forward through college (her to Boston, me to Virginia), careers, families and the chaos of adulthood … and suddenly, summer 2024 rolled around. We picked up our rackets again and jumped into doubles like no time had passed.

Two summers later, we’re getting our groove back. Better teamwork, smoother rallies and plenty of mid-court pep talks and hype sessions landing us in the finals in August. Although we lost I whispered to Elena mid-match, "just being here together, in my book, we have already won."

There’s something magic about coming back to a sport you loved as kids with the same friend who knew you then. Playing with Elena now feels like joy in motion. It’s fun, it’s energizing, and it’s become one of my favorite things to do. My summer is complete.

I cherish this time. Every laugh, every rally, every moment of trying to get a little better while also not taking ourselves too seriously. Sports brought us together decades ago. Now they just keep giving us reasons to show up and play.