While a series of experiences may shape you into who you are, where they happen is what makes them memorable. A significant place that I grew up around and still visit occasionally is Hale Park, a small park area near my house, located in Midway. Hale Park has been a big part of my childhood, as I previously mentioned in my last writing assignment, sports have always been an important part of my life, childhood and adolescence, and it all started at Hale Park. As a kid I loved the outdoors, and everyday I would look forward to playing baseball with my friends and getting ready for the games. I spent nearly 10 years of my life attending baseball and football games there. However, Hale Park was not necessarily a place where I was only able to manifest and enjoy my passion for sports, but also where I’ve met some of my lifelong friends. All of my friendships as a kid started and developed because of sports, it was truly easy to talk and hang around the people who shared the same hobbies and passions as I did; on the field and off the field I’ve made some of the most amazing memories. Almost on a daily basis there was some sort of event that brought all families in and out of the neighborhoods together, and seeing all the proud parents attending each event was probably one of the most memorable moments of my childhood. Some of these events consisted of fun activities for kids, for example, at the beginning of every baseball season, every team would start off with a parade. Even if each team had a game at a different time, everyone from different teams would come to support one another. As a kid, growing up at Hale, competition was not the most important part of playing a sport as it seems to be everywhere else. At the end of the season, all teams were given some type of award during a picnic, in which every player felt noticed and was rewarded with something. Social events like this occured all the time during all the years I played baseball at Hale Park, but unfortunately, once I turned twelve I had no choice but to stop playing baseball there due to the fact that the League only accepted kids up to twelve years old. My love for baseball didn’t stop after I stopped playing at Hale, and I kept playing outside of the park. Still, I attended other games and events because I always felt Hale was so important to me. Once I turned sixteen, my friends and I had gotten the opportunity to play again in the Senior League, and we all accepted. What this was is you had to get a team of fifteen people that lived in the area to compete for the best team in the state to make it to the Senior League World Series. My dad and another guy who used to coach all of us growing up contacted all the kids that were on the all star team when we were younger to join this team to compete to win such an important tournament. In the end we ended up falling short of making it to the World Series game in Bangor ME, losing in the regional tournament in the last game to make it there. We all kept in touch throughout the years in which we didn’t play at Hale and even if we had grown up, playing baseball together again like we did when we were little kids will always be one of my favorite memories. Baseball was not always the center of our friendships though. We always planned basketball games at Hale Park’s gym, sometimes even more than once a week. This park has always just been more than a place to play sports and grow as an athlete; it’s a place where us kids would go to and hang out and get away from home. We knew we were always safe and close to home just being kids having a good time always. Till this day we keep a tradition to come back and play football here every Thanksgiving and its known as the turkey bowl. All my friends and I get together and play football for hours in the morning of Thanksgiving bringing everyone in the neighborhood together to have a good time. This day is so special because people that you haven’t seen for months or even a couple of years come to this event and it brings back so many good memories. That’s what is so special about this park because no matter what it keeps so many friendships alive because this is where it all started. Although these are all good memories there has been a moment in my life I will never forget, truly believe it changed me as an athlete growing up. When I was about ten years old my team and I were in the semifinal game to make it to the park championship. I was the pitcher for this game and it was all tied in the last inning with the bases loaded and two outs. I threw the perfect pitch down the middle to send the game to extra innings and the kid leaned into the pitch giving them the win to make it to the championship. I ran off the pitcher's mound along with everyone else saying no he cheated and leaned into it! That didn’t make a difference at all but a huge fight and I just remember crying, devastated; my dad had my back the whole time and carried me off the field knowing they were wrong, but cheaters never win. Hale park has given not just me, but all the kids like me growing up these memories I will never forget. It truly has made me not only the athlete I am but the person I have become, and it all started right here right down the street.