“Nervous, exciting, and grateful.” are some words to express the emotions most people feel when playing on the field. Nataly Salgado, a senior who plays soccer and basketball, shares her experience giving flag football a shot. Nataly values her reputation, which is what motivated her to join flag football. “I went in trying out, trying to get the three sport varsity award, knowing that I wanted to make Varsity. So I could get that three Sport Award once all three seasons were over. Also, I just wanted to try out because it was something new and fun.” says Nataly. Through learning a new sport , Nataly faced some challenges. She says, “It was difficult because I was a quarterback, learning all the plays, memorizing all the plays, and knowing where each person went, and knowing that we had a bunch of plays to memorize. So it was challenging, but made it worth it. For the team.” She mentions how she stuck to a position she knew was hard but chose to do what was right for the team. “So coming in I wanted to try quarterback. I liked it, but once I learned that you need to memorize a lot of stuff. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted to play wide receiver, mostly to catch the ball, score touchdowns, but they wanted me as a quarterback. So I stayed as a quarterback, but if I were to do it again, I would rather play wide receiver.” Nataly shouts out a teammate of hers that had made her experience overall better. “So Antonella Rivera, like I mentioned we played past seasons together before, so I knew I could rely on her. Overall we would always just joke around, laugh around, and mess around during practice and games. We know each other’s playing style, so we know how we played. We just connected well on and off the field.” Her favorite memory of the season by far was, “Probably the game against Hinsdale south. That loss felt like a win because we didn’t get blown out and was a close game, it was also memorable to me because I passed the first touchdown in Leyden girls flag history (as a sport) It was a very emotional experience because everybody was happy. We only lost by six points. So it felt like a win to us, because we had it. We just couldn’t close the game out. But it was a fun game. So for sure, that game was very special.” Nataly gives a piece of her advice for students who think of trying a new sport : “I say for sure do it. It’s worth it, especially for your high school career. Just try a new sport. If you don’t like it, then you don’t do it next year or the next season. But at least you could say to your friends and to your family ‘I did this sport in high school. Even if you don’t like it, you get to meet new friends, new faces, to make connections with. Just have an open mind to it, and just do it.” In the end, Nataly is now able to say she has played flag football in high school.