It was a cool crisp autumn day. The smell of old rubber mixed with a subtle hint of sweat filled the old rugged gym. The sound of sneakers squeaking on hardwood and long hard panting noises were accustomed to this setting. “Bro, basketball tryouts are coming up! You gonna sign up?” Jouse, my best friend, asked me “Yeah of course!” I exclaimed. Almost spontaneously the coach appeared behind us only to write our names on the sign-up sheet then give us a glance with a slight smirk on his face just before he disappeared into the clustered school hallway. TRYOUTS TOMORROW wrote in bold faced across the bottom of the sign-up sheet gave light to us. The next day I came bright and early at six thirty in the morning. Just as the sun creaked its bright light I walked through the old rusted door of our glorious school gym only to find half the school in wait to begin tryouts. I was nervous, almost scared. What if I’m warmed up, what if I’m not steady, what if I’m too cold, right there and then every single horrible situation flashed before my eyes. Whether it was me tripping over my untied shoelaces or a state of the art jet crashing through the ceiling only giving bodily injury to me. But before i knew it tryouts were over and not a single thing had gone wrong. To this day I still can’t remember a single thing i did in practice that year. Walking out the door I came to an abrupt halt as coach stops me with a serious face as usual. “Good job out there Jobin, we could use more kids like you on our team.” Coach stated “Gee thanks coach” I said in hope that I had pleased him He nods his head then says “You’re on” he then walks out of the gym without saying a word “Yes, yes, yes!” I exclaimed in a soft voice to myself The games was... ... middle of paper ... ...ng my arm, a loud snap came from the sound of my arm and their centers's hand. I had been fouled and the whistle had been blown, but the ball was still in the air I watched as it made three bounces on the rim, BOUNCE, BOUNCE, BOUNCE, BOUNCE went the ball. Then after a suspenseful four seconds of rolling on the rim, it finally tipped in. I looked up with a smile at my coach who gave me a smile and a thumbs up right back at me. SWISH went my free throw. As I jogged back to the end of the court I could tell this would be a good game. The rest of that day went like a breeze. Going back home, taking a shower, eating, then going to sleep in my bed. As I laid more tired than ever I painted to myself “Fifty-five to twenty-three, damn we lost bad” From then on I never looked at a basketball without thinking of the ver fat hanging from the black, sweaty, crinkled center.
They are about to play a tournament and finally the team is together and Cal walks through the door and he says “ Even though it’s supposed to be a showcase , Scouts are coming. This quotes makes a big impact because everyone on the team wants to be recruit by a good college.
“I 'm really not into selling the school,” Hoyt said. “I 'm not going to talk anyone into playing basketball for me. It needs to be a marriage. They need to want me as much as I want them, otherwise it won 't work. I am going to let them know why it 's a great place for them, and why it may, or may not be a good decision for them. But at the end of the day, I want them to make the best decision for themselves, because it 's a huge decision moving forward. I let them know that they are going to be looked after while they are here by not only myself, but the community as well. It will be difficult at times, but they will succeed. This place was designed for them to be successful.”
“Hello my name is Coach Ventura but you can call me Ace. So, we will be doing some drills for the next 3 days to a--.” My face broke out in red and I was speechless. I thought that there was only one day of tryouts. I calmed my nerves and gained back my composure. I refocused my hearing on the coach when she was in the middle of saying,” …--a number and go to your group.” I didn’t know the first part, but I joined into what everyone else was doing which was getting a duct tape number on the back of our shirts to determine what group we started out in and rotated to. As the tryouts went on I was feeling more
"I'm worried about basketball. That's what it is for me. It's a basketball decision. I'm looking forward to the future."
In 2014 I was determined to make the high school soccer team. Every day at 8 am at the beginning of a dreadfully hot August morning, I would get to the turf fields for 4 hours and participate in “hell week”. After a long week, I made the JV team. I was never put into the game and felt like my hard work was put to no use. My sophomore year rolled around and I tried extra hard to impress the coaches. Anything and everything was a competition to make it to the top. By the end of the week, we all gathered around the paper that had names of the players who made it. I didn’t make the team. After tears and telling myself to move on, I went to the field hockey tryouts. I knew nothing about the sport and was terrified that soccer wasn’t my go-to
“Guys! We made it out!” Sean stated with the utmost excitement. We had placed top 5 and would now advance to the next State meet. This brightened the mood a lot, everyone was so happy when they heard this. This was a true accomplishment. This is the moment that made me proud to be part of the
My days began with going to the gym early in the mornings and going to the park to practice my batting swings and catches in the evening. I even managed to save up some allowance money to spend on the high school’s softball summer camps. However, my time fell short, and the day of the infamous tryouts had begun. My rambling thoughts were running bases through my head. How will I try out in front of hundreds of other girls? Will they laugh at me? Would I even make it? Will my friends make it? While my anxiety got the better of me, the head coach yelled out my name, and I slowly and steadily walked up to the batting box, and got ready for the pitcher to toss a fastball at me. Time slowed down as I anticipated the pitch; my fingers almost lost the grip on my bat waiting, but then, I saw the softball coming my way. I took a deep breath, and I hit it as hard and as fast as I could; it made it all the way to the outfield. I stood there shocked that I could do that, grinned ear to ear, and did a little happy dance on my way back to the line. My friends were celebrating and came up to high-five me when I got to the end of the line, and the varsity first basemen, a celebrity in my eyes, came up and complimented me on how far I hit the softball. A varsity member had spoken to me.
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.
"I thought I would come in honestly and be a big part of it which I was," he said. "I just played my role. But now I get to actually put it on, everything I can do this year. I feel like the last couple of years that I've been kind of on hold, losing my mom and everything. I feel like I am done over the grieving period of all that and I can just move on with my life. I've just been focused on basketball all summer, trying to get better.
The following basketball season, after improving his basketball skills during the summer, Pablo tried out for his high school basketball team and made it. After finding out that he made it, Pablo quickly called his parents to tell them the good news. At his first practice, the coach, Coach Damal, quickly noticed that Pablo was a new player and that he had not tried out in previous years. He also noticed
I walked back onto the court and realized this was our third game, the final game. If we win this game, we win, but if we lose, we lose our first game. Nervous energy filled up my body, but released, once I saw the volleyball in the server's hand on the other
When you look at a basketball what do you see? Most would see an orange, sphere, shaped rubber ball. There are black lines and real leather. If you look closer, you would even see the size of the ball in which you are playing with. A basketball could be just a toy for many, or even represent a release for others, but for me, it means a lot more. A basketball represents my blood, sweat, tears, passion, sacrifice, and most of all, a sense of belonging, like a family. At this moment in my life, there are only three things I devote my life to- family, friends, and basketball. Basketball has shaped my life probably more than anything else. Basketball has instilled in me a vicious will to achieve and embrace my ambitions instead of fearing them. Basketball gave me an open opportunity to try something new. New opportunities and experiences are not such a big deal anymore. From academics to personal matters, the lessons that I have learned from basketball has impacted my life.
...ft," Coach said as we hurried out of the health room. She was right. There was only half the time left. Warm ups seemed to fly by, and before I knew it there were only 35 seconds left on the clock. Murray's team had already headed for the bench for their coach’s last second instructions. "Let's bring it in girls," yelled Coach Moore from our bench. We all ran over not wanting to miss any important last minute words of wisdom from Coach. "OK, starters check in, you know who you are. As I have said, they are about equal in ability with us. We need to go out there and play our hearts out tonight, girls. Enjoy this, it is your last home game this season," Coach said. With that the Ref. blew his whistle to signal the start of the game. I, with the rest of the starters, walked out onto the court and got ready for the tip off, knowing I was completely prepared for the game.
Down two with six seconds to go fatigue had taken it tolls on the players. With little energy left; over time was not an option. I knew I had to go for the win. I walk on the floor confident of my ability that was until the whistle blew quickly turning my confident to butterflies. As I fought to get open I quickly saw the ball coming my way. As I rose for a jump shot time itself began to stay still. An in flesh everything became silent. As I watch the ball leave my hand I envisioned greatness; sure the ball was on its way in I started to celebrate that was until I hear the announcer say my teammate tip in miss shot to win us the game. Mix with emotion I celebrate with my teammate. “Ok guys, we have 24 hours until tip off. Get some rest because this is going to be the biggest game of your life. Let’s bring this championship back to Barton College. Go Bulldogs and Goodnight!” Why few players stay in the lobby to hang out I took it talk upon to work on my game and reflect on the semifinal game that just took place. At basketball games you will notice how there are all sorts of fans attending the game.
We arrived at the Andover High School main gym thirty minutes before the game and started to stretch.