230037 Being a Quitter Sometimes, when you fail, you don’t always want to continue and keep trying. This is an issue I struggled with previously, I had failed in sports and quit because of it in the past. I’ve failed to understand something, and dealt with it by just giving up and not doing it. Nothing in middle school actually mattered though, that’s the reasoning I put behind that. I could pick and choose which assignments I wanted to do, and fail without any remorse or regret. I know that isn’t the most attractive quality to hear, but it’s who I was, not who I am. I’ve turned myself around, you could say. In basketball, however, it’s a different story. One year, after working at it all day everyday for three months, I was suddenly one of the best players on my team. I was noticed by another coach and managed to play on two teams at the same time, which back then, was quite a feat in my eyes. This ultimately led to me growing quite an ego. Everytime I made a mistake, it would piss me off. I argued with my coaches, and that ended up with me …show more content…
Not to play for him again, because he was still upset with me, but for another coach, the highschool team’s varsity coach. It wasn’t a varsity spot, because I was just going into ninth grade that summer, but it was still a chance to play basketball again. I did come back and play again, I was missing playing on a sports team. All was well, when suddenly I got a bit of an ego again. I skipped practices, lying and giving shoddy excuses as to why I wasn’t there, and then also expected to play. One day, I skipped practice without any reason, and the coach I had quit on previously called me. He talked to me, asking why I wasn’t there, and in simple terms, told me I’m never going to get anywhere if I keep quitting and continue doing things like this. That set me straight, I’ve kept my attitude and ego in check, respecting the coaches and my teammates
The sport I once loved, was not fun anymore. I hated practice because I felt targeted and was always worrying about being embarrassed by my coach. In games or practice I worried about what she would say or do if I made a mistake. When I thought I did something right she
A year later, I was again chosen for the team. This time, I worked my way from being a back-up catcher to the starting 3rd baseman in two weeks. But after going 0-2 in my first two at-bats, my coach took me out of the starting line-up. Again, I pinch-hit, and was very successful at it. I even hit what turned out to be a game-winning homerun. We later reached the championship game again, but we lost it for the second time. This time I was more frustrated than I could ever remember being. I was slamming my hand into walls and almost crying. I was really acting very childish.
Ever since I was young my parents said “Drew you should try new things, even if it means you fail at something.” I never really listen to them until one time in the study grade when I decided that it was ok to fail. I asked my parents “ Can we look for a club basketball team that I could try out for?” Thrilled in hearing that I wanted to try something new, they found I tryout for a team called the Cincinnati Royals. A couple of other friends agreed to try out with me, but I was still very nervous because it was my first tryout. All three of us made it through the first round of cuts and were called back for another tryout. I remember being more nervous for the second tryout than I was for the first. My palms sweated the whole night, every shot I took clanked of the rim, it wasn’t my night. My two other friends were told that they made the team, but I unfortunately got cut which I expected given how I performed. At first I saw this experience as an overwhelming failure, but I soon realized that I challenged myself, and I could learn from the criticism the coaches gave me. Taking the new stuff I learned from the tryout, I found a different club basketball team that I was fortunate enough to make, which I got to meet new people and play a sport that I loved. Although I may not have gotten the
Starting my freshman year at County High School, I played basketball and loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t be conceited enough to say I was good, but God did bless me with the talent to play. My life revolved around the sport of basketball; some would say I slept, ate, and breathed every part of it. I spent all my time training and practicing to make myself a more dedicated athlete. This dedication not only helped me as a player, but also molded me into the person I am today. It somehow helped to prepare me for what defeat I would face with back surgery in the future.
Little did I know my whole C-Squad season would come to this. School had finally let out, and we began to play summer ball for the VFW team, I was playing with older kids and the varsity coach, which both really intimidated me. Out of my element, I had lost all of the confidence I had in me, and possibly played my worst baseball ever that summer. I was so shaken and angry with myself, I truly began to contemplate the pros and cons of even playing ball anymore. After many days of thinking, I told myself, I will work harder and play harder than any other person on my team. After that season I had began something very new to me, which was lifting weights. Afterall I thought how easy can it be, it’s picking up weight and putting it back down, and i’ll be jacked in no time. Quicker than a flash reality hit me, and lifting was way more difficult than I had first thought. There was all the form and different types of lifts such as: Clean, Deadlift, Squat, Bench Press, all of the basics. My sophomore year began, and I was still far behind on my new goal, and that’s when I went to one of my best friends, John who is very stocky and strong, practically a pro
As a result of laying for the varsity level, I never really realize how your actions on and off the court affect how others viewed me. During basketball, my coach would have the eighth graders practice with the team, to get them ready for the high school. Throughout the team practices I would take things a little personal, by overreacting when the smallest things happened. For example, I would get so much anger built up when the practice teams were unevenly chosen or we started to lose our scrimmage game. I would get a little attitude, and played unnecessarily rough or just started messing up and would not care. However, when I did this, I failed to realize that the younger girls would pick up on my small tantrums, and it would reflect when they played. Watching the girls mimic my actions made me regret how I would act in practices and games. The younger girls would have moments when they lashed out, and took It out on other players.
I loved everything about the sport, knew everything about the sport, and simply wanted to be physically involved with the sport. I signed up for my local football organization and greatly anticipated the start of the season. My first season our team finished undefeated, winning each game with ease. I played offensive line and enjoyed every play, finally being a part of the sport I loved. My coach at the time admired my hard work and dedication, repeatedly telling my fellow teammates that we should all aspire to have a work ethic such as my own. At the end of the season, my coach suggested I practice to become a quarterback. A quarterback is usually one of the skinniest players on the team, a trait I certainly didn't have. If I were to be a quarterback, I would have to lose at least thirty pounds and practice almost every day until the next season. As crazy as the suggestion seemed to me at the time, I gladly accepted the challenge and almost instantly began to work to become the best quarterback I could
It then started to get harder and each day was a different workout to help me and my teammates improve. I was at a point where all I could do was attend school, go to practice and go home. Each day I was beyond tired. At a point of time I felt like giving up and going back to my regular life, and regular schedule. As the coach started to notice how I felt, he pulled me to the side and started to question what was going on. I explained, but everything I said was not a good enough reason. My coach told me, “If this is what you really want you won’t give up, no matter how hard it may get you will overcome it.” That day I learned a valuable lesson, to never give up.
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.
Throughout my life, my work ethic, my mental strength, and the skills I have learned, are largely because of my athletic background and all of the things I have gone through with them. To be good at sports, one does not have to
Malcolm X once said, “There is no better than adversity. Every defeat; every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.” I stared closely at the scoreboard, watching the seconds count down. I grasped that I would not be playing in this game or the next, or the one following that. This season would be a learning experience, an experience that would strengthen my mind and spirit. My first year on varsity soccer was truly a challenge. I struggled for the first time in my soccer career and faced many difficult obstacles, along the way. The season began, and I was immediately labeled as a “reserve” player. I was a bench warmer and a useless substitute, who had minimal playing time.
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
The thing is, if you give up, you will never forgive yourself in the future and you will regret it a lot. This is why I believe that if you just stay positive through tough situations, you will get through anything in life. There have been many times in my athletic career where I just wanted to give up and quit the sport. Whether it being basketball, football, track, or baseball. But, there was always something in the back of my mind that told me to keep thinking positive and to keep trying.
Thumbs Out A girlfriend of mine once defended me to her father by saying, calmly, “Not everyone who wanders is lost.” The dad kicked me out of the house anyway. But the damage had been done. Not everyone who wanders is lost.
This caused me to play pissed off and to the best of my abilities for a time. But it cause me to lose the love for the game and to begin playing at a subpar standard. I had to due something to start playing better or I was going to lose my spot in the starting line up. So I started to coach a little league team that one of our family friends son played on. I coached them how I was coached by drilling the fundamentals into them until it was muscle memory. And pushing them during workouts and conditioning all behind the motto of if “You want to be the best you have to train like the best.” Coaching those kids taught me how to love and play the game again. I noticed my game started to improve and I was playing back at the varsity level and enjoying the game again for the first time in a long