Sam is the antagonist of the short story “Sam the Athlete”. Sam’s physical appearance is described as weak, because he was not able to run for a long time and he got knocked when he crashed into one of his teammates. He might be described as small for being able to fit in skirts, and the field hockey coach thought that he was a girl. Another adjective to describe Sam is Nervous. He is Nervous about going to middle school for the first time. “I can’t sleep,” he said. “What’s the matter, sweetie?” asked Morley, who couldn’t sleep herself and knew perfectly well what was the matter. “I need new sneakers,” said Sam “for school”. (P.g.59). Also, Sam is a thoughtless person for not thinking before buy the new sneakers and regretting to have bought them after. “And as Sam sat on the sidewalk, his head in his hands, he was thinking that he should have known all along that the shoes weren’t going to help.” (P.g.63). He is courageous for trying to play all the sports even thought he knew that he isn’t good. Sam is reliable, because even though he thought that the field hockey team was for girls, he could have left, but decided to stay on the team.