Since 1948, baseball has been the shining American sport. However, football quickly took over as the favorite in the 70s. Meanwhile, soccer dominates the rest of the world. These popular sports are so widespread that they are common and almost required high school activities. It’s an American stereotype that the high school football quarterback dates the cheer captain. However, that’s not real life. Real-life has much more diversity in people and sports. Taylorsville High School has a range of little known sports such as tennis, golf, ultimate frisbee, bowling, wrestling, and spikeball.

“Anyone can play [spikeball],” says senior Colton Meldrum, “Anyone can be really good at it.” This is true for the other sports as well. While tennis, ultimate frisbee, golf, and wrestling have separate male and female teams, they rarely turn people away. 

COVID-19 has of course impacted these sports. While girls tennis just finished up their fall season, boys tennis is a spring sport. “We weren’t able to have a season [last year]. At the time, we weren’t supposed to really gather so we couldn’t practice,” says senior Tate Seaman 3rd year Taylorsville tennis player, “[But] we have a good time and you don’t have to be really good to play.”

Other sports have had to work with CDC regulations and be extra cautious that guidelines are followed. “While we’re taking our breaks we do have our masks on, but during our game time we are unmasked and try to keep contact at a minimum.” said senior Landon Muir on the ultimate frisbee team. While sports are doing their best to work with restrictions, the games are still afoot. 

“Bowlers will have to be masked throughout the match unless they’re on the approach, high fives are discouraged and we’ll minimize the number of spectators. Other than that, everything will run just as it did before,” says senior Eva Black about the bowling team.

Golf, boys tennis, ultimate frisbee, and wrestling are all spring sports. Their seasons are coming up and need more people to play! 

“[Frisbee] is a great way to meet friends… It’s great to get out there to meet new people, get physical exercise and it’s just fun all around,” says Muir.

“I wish that more people knew how relaxed [golf] is… It’s just really lowkey.” says senior Jessica Robinson about her experience on the girl’s golf team. “You can come to practice when you’re available and come to tournaments when you’re available.”

These sports delve into the differing athletic abilities of everyone and are some of the most inclusive teams to be a part of. “We encourage anyone and everyone who is interested to join. It’s never too late to learn and the more the merrier!” advises Black.

“Play with your friends, get better, and have fun,” says Meldrum.

So, let’s wake up. We’re not living in 1948, this is the 21st century. We’ve got a million different sports and activities for every single person. So get out and join the Taylorsville teams! Football, soccer, and baseball aren’t the only sports that deserve a spotlight.