Many High School athletes play standard sports either in their free time, or for their school. Many of these include basketball, football, volleyball, etc. Many of these sports require purchases of gear, balls, fees and fines, and other charges. While many parents may find these to be expensive, my favorite sport requires the purchase of heavy machinery and expensive parts.

I know it may sound like I’m bragging, but all I’m saying is that it’s a unique pain in the rear.

A sport I haven’t done in a while, simply because of this reason, is dirt biking. Dirt biking is a very uncommon sport, especially for teens here in the suburban midwest. In fact, there’s only two other people at NNHS that I know of that ride. As long as I can remember, I have been riding dirt bikes. I don’t remember much from when I lived in California, but I still remember the day that I got my first Honda XR50, training wheels and all. Ever since then, my journey has been parent – fund – assisted, but that stopped around my sophomore year. Hopefully with my new job and plans to live at home during my early years of college to dodge rent I can take it up again. Ideally, my next bike is one that I could have for as long as possible, a KTM 300 XCW. It would be a while though, as they are excellent machines in high demand.

Another one of my favorite ‘sports’ is really more of a hobby. RC racing. This one I have found to be even more unique than dirt biking, because it is (ugh) expensive, and there is only one location I know of with two tracks an hour away. Typically this is a winter activity, as I dirt bike and travel in the summer and in the nice weather, where this racing can be done indoors. Why am I racing RC cars? Well, they aren’t the typical cars that use AA batteries that you pick up at Radio Shack – you have to get them online or from fanatical hobby stores. They require LiPo batteries that use heavy duty chargers, and they can commonly reach ~30mph on a flat. I again haven’t done these in a while and might not because of Covid – it’s kept the building closed.

One final one, again, more of a hobby and my favorite pastime, is video games. I really like the culture of online games, because there’s limitless possibilities for what you can do, and no matter what kind of person you are, I can guarantee there’s a game out there for you. It doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, either. You can play whatever game or run whatever program you want on minimal material, buying games, consoles, computers, or computer parts used or on sale. Or you can be a nut like me and a couple friends of mine that fancy the newest and shiniest parts on the market for maximum performance in competitive settings.