A number of people whom I have encountered in my life don’t understand the bigger picture of how instrumental sports are to young men and women as they grow up.

For instance, some people say football is just people tackling each other, basketball is just people shooting baskets and baseball is just catching, throwing and hitting a baseball.

Although these are components of the game, team sports cannot be simplified to those terms—they are so much more.

As a kid, I started playing baseball when I was five and basketball when I was seven.

Other than the time one of my friends accidently hit one of our teammates in the face with a metal bat, playing sports early on was a fun and exciting experience. Not only was it fun, but it allowed me to meet kids from other schools and become closer to the kids I already went to school with.

Those bonds grow as you move on to more advanced leagues. And as the years go on, you grow closer to the people on your team.

Summer baseball was huge for me and my teammates when we were 12 because that was the year we were eligible to make it to the Little League World Series.

That was an extremely fun summer.

We all went to the same basketball camp during the day, then went to our baseball practice.

In our free time, we hung out. We traveled all over the Washington, D.C. area playing in tournaments. We won our state (DC) and got to the northeast regionals in Bristol, Connecticut. Although we lost to New York and never made it to the World Series.

The experience was something I will never forget.

It is important to start playing sports early because one can learn accountability and have a real purpose that one can use for the future.

Instead of playing video games all day and eating snack food when school was out for the summer, my friends and I were getting exercise and working hard toward a goal.