What sports did you play growing up? Or right now?

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What is your history in sports at all phases in your life? How did autism have an effect you on your sport(s)(positively/negatively)? What positions did you play? Especially if they are team sports as I have learned individual sports are often preferred in our community. Having said that, some team sports are great for kids with autism for that reason. If you are NT, please clarify that.

I played football and basketball when I was younger, and by the end of high school I was in football,played Offensive Tackle and started Varsity half of junior year and all of senior year, and started doing track sophomore year as a thrower. I was pretty good at football being 240 lbs and I considered playing D3, but chose not to because of tuition costs(Minnesota's D3 schools are all private and mighty expensive). For Track, I was good at shotput, not so much at disc as I wasn't and still am not coordinated. I now just work out like I did in high school, and no I am not in as good of shape as I was in high school. I also played baseball when I was younger, but didn't really like it.

I have been taking tennis lessons for a year and a half.

I never liked sports & only played when I had to for PE. I don't think my AS was a factor but rather my other disabilities.

I played soccer when I was five, baseball when I was nine, basketball when I was ten, track when I was in middle school and high school (up until junior year) and football in high school (through sophomore year). In track I sprinted short distance (usually 200m to 400m) plus some hurtles and did shotput and discus, and in football I was a wingback/fullback. I remember I never got a touchdown, but I did gain an 8-yard down once during a homecoming game my freshman year (at least I think it was my freshman year). During my sophomore year, I remember getting hit by an eighteen-year old driver in his pickup truck while I was biking to the library, and got away from the accident with a rather nasty abrasion on my left arm and some bruised legs. I had to sit out from football practice for a couple of weeks - I couldn't run at all, and I could barely walk. Some of the players jokingly referred to me as "the boy who lived." Anyways, I think that autism may have had an effect on two things with sports in my life: my general attitude towards them (I'd rather play them than watch them or study them - I find the latter way too understimulating, unlike music or physics, or something), and although I like to play some sports (especially some of the less team-based ones, like golf), I'm really not that good at them. I'm much better at academic disciplines than athletic ones.

Also, I was a total wuss when it came to weight training. Although my max squat topped out at about 250lbs when I weighed half that, my max bench was 115lbs. Pathetic. I knew kids who could bench 225+lbs as sophomores in reps.

Basketball is one of my special interests. I played several years in rec league as a child. I started out as a defensive stopper; my shot became increasingly better through the years, though I could be a "streak shooter." I'm quite competent at this sport for a 5'2" girl. In the last several years, I have occasionally played pickup with smaller men, and I can hold my own. My skills are respected.

I grew up with an older brother, and we played lots of throw-and-catch football together. I did best as wide receiver. I have pretty sure hands from all that practice.

Nowadays, I mostly do running and weightlifting.

I consider myself tomboyish despite some gross motor deficits (never learned to ride a bike or swim). With practice, I can become fairly proficient at most sports. I suck at martial arts though. I love watching MMA, but the more internal spatial relations are hard for me to process. Baseball is also trickier for me. Everyone says that is the easiest sport to understand, but basketball and football make the most sense for me. I can understand and strategize about those sports for hours, especially basketball. Folks did want me to try out for softball though when I was younger because I was good at pitching. Turned it down because, again, baseballish rules are strange to me.