My first shot in basketball
“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, pretend that you do and, at some point you will”
-Venus Williams
I’m the worst one out here, I thought as I was on the court. The time was ticking…. It all started when my brothers started teaching me to play basketball in the summer of late June. My brothers have always been good at basketball. Tthey were really good when they played in high school. Ever since I had been playing with my brothers I thought I would be good when I started basketball in middle school. I had confidence in myself, but then we started practice…
At practice I didn't know how tiring it was but it was totally worth it in the end, in basketball I played wing/ guard. Everyone on my team was really good so when we had our first game against Waukon I thought we would win and I was right we did win. Then two days later we had our first home game against Kee High Hawks and that day at school I was so hyped because it was our first home game of the season and so was everyone else on my team. We were also excited about it because we get to dress up for home games. By dress up I mean we get to wear something that looks nice. School was over and it was game time.
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In the West Central drill we have two lines under the basket and someone comes from one line and that person in line throws the ball to that person and then that person throws the ball and tries to make a basket where they’re standing and it keeps going on and on and on. After that if we have time we make free throws and if you make a free throw our team claps but if you don't make it we say good job. Suddenly it was time to put the balls away and start the game. We all went into a huddle to say our little “yell” type thing. So we all went “1..2..3...TIGERHAWKS” and started the
“Just always stay brave and never give up,Stay the way you are.” Fred said smiling.
Beginning as a freshman I started every game never, but to sit on the bench unless there was a major problem. This repetitious cycle mirrored itself over and over again until there was a problem, physically, with my body. I had felt a pain in my back that ran down my leg for some time, but no one other than me knew of this pain. I am a very strong willed and determined person, not letting pain stand in my way. The pain started to vaguely effect my everyday activities, such as walking across Wal-mart which put me in agonizing pain. The only way I played basketball with this pain was by focusing on the goal I was out to achieve.
It was the most competitive three days of my life, basketball tryouts. This is the first time my friends and I were trying out for a school team, we were all hyped for basketball season. I entered the tryout excited and consequently energetic. Adrenaline was pulsing through all the players bodies, there were 6 foot tall 8th graders with years of experience competing against 6th graders who have never touched a basketball before for the same spots. I was in between, I was a 6th grader that had experience along with some skill. That was also my downfall, I went in overconfident and consequently cocky. I wasn’t planning on getting cut, I walked into the tryout overwrought, nothing could stop me from being on the team.
My first practice was scary -(how i felt) because I didn't know anyone there, but that was the day I met my new coach and teammates. The first few practices were exciting because I got to learn how to play the game including the rules and how to keep score. I also learned what to do and not to do during a game. That season is when i first realized i was a good soccer player and a big help to my team. My team and I didn’t do very well but throughout the seasons we
I had been practicing harder than the rest of the kids in 7th grade, but yet they were still so much better than I was. I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong. I kept thinking that I wasn’t going to make the basketball team again. One day I had enough and just started working hard on building confidence in my shot. I would spend hours on end just trying to build confidence because I had no confidence in anything I did.
Basketball is a big part of my life, one year ago in tournament final game two of our best players were hurt and the team was relying on me. With the time winding down on the clock we were down 8 points. Somehow I got our deficit down to two points with 30 seconds left, after an intense defensive stop 10 seconds remained on the clock; our coach called a timeout. A play was drawn up for me to take the shot. Mitchell inbounded the ball to me as I came off of a screen, I had an some-what wide open shot, I took the shot, you could hear the crowd go silent as the ball left my hand and headed towards the basketball. It felt like everything was going slow motion, the ball was getting closer and closer to the hoop and I…….missed it. The buzzer sounded
“Quick shoot the ball” Yelled the coach. Running down the field I shoot we won I scored the winning goal.” As I looked over at the scoreboard beep the game was over. We have won the game we are going to the championship. As we were going out to go eat with my team for our win “Bang” a loud crack of the thunder.
I figured that I had grown about five inches since my freshman year and had gotten stronger it might be time to play basketball competitively once more. When November rolled around I was on the varsity team, but unfortunately my basketball skills was not up to par. It was tough at first, because I was a new face on the team, and the guys on the team had a great chemistry that they had built up throughout the years. After a few weeks had rolled by, I realized that I would not be in the rotation.I told myself that the team’s success is more important than my personal desired statistics.I decided to make the most of my role on the team. It was a tradition for the guys who were not in the rotation to contribute to the game in some way, guys did this by preforming stunts after significant plays and momentum shifts in the game in our favor. This was great because the crowd loved and it and more importantly my teammates fed off of the
Let's take a step back, I woke up and I was not well rested. I thought to myself this is game day and I am still super tired. Then my Dad came into the room and said get your lazy butt you got a game today!!! I got and got all my stuff ready and checked bag not once but twice. I was ready to head to the school.
I remember how bad it hurt to be told I didn’t make the team. Many of the kids quit when they found out they were on the B team. I was so emotional inside but I never complained, I showed up to practice everyday, I worked hard everyday, and I listened to the coach’s criticism and used it to make myself a better player. I was even on JV until my junior year in high school.
“I needed to find a way to get rid of your self doubt and this was the only option and it actually worked.”
Ever since I was a little boy, about eight years old or so, I had an extreme passion for the sport of basketball. On weekends, I would wake up in the morning, eat a bowl of frosted flakes or cheerios, put on basketball shorts and then go in my driveway to shoot around. I would be out there for hours just shooting around or playing with some random kids that I would occasionally see walking around my neighborhood. This was satisfaction to me, but even better was playing on multiple public teams and not just playing in my driveway every day. In elementary school, I played in a recreational league, just like almost every other kid who tries out basketball when they were younger. This was fun and all but it was nothing too serious. There were never any practices, it was just one or two unorganized games per week. I never took
After drills were done we immediately transitioned to scrimmages. Scrimmages were an essential part of try-outs. It was where the coach really paid attention to who would make the team or not. I was determined not to let anyone stop me from doing what I know best. The opposing team took the ball down the court with a slow pace and I immediately got a steal and ran down the court for the layup. I ran back on defense as they proceeded to take the ball down the court again. The other player put up a shot and missed. I ferociously grabbed the rebound and blazed down the court for another layup. I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead and I knew this was the start of something new. It was something that I knew would lead me to great heights. I gained so much confidence and never looked back. By the end of the game, I finished with 22 points and 5 steals. I was so proud of myself for accomplishing everything and I knew I was no longer the
As I was warming up before the Rookie State Championship Isaac, one of my teammates, came up to me telling me I better not lose to the blind kid in my weight class. “I know man I got this tournament easy!” I told him. I truly believed it too, all the training with my grandpa, the countless doubles and singles I’ve practiced, there was no way I was gonna lose. He said okay
I do not consider myself to be very good at basketball but I could have been much worse if I never met this group of middle-aged men. I started playing with these guys when I was 14 years old, and to this day I still don’t know some of their names. I met them when my friends and I were shooting around in my local middle school, they happened to be short of people so they asked if we wanted to play pick up with them. We agreed, and ever since then, we played with them every Sunday morning.