Always growing up, I always watched Basketball. I always dreamed of becoming an NBA all star (still to this day). This one time in 4nd grade was when I realized I wanted to start playing basketball competitively. I said to myself, “I want to be the next LeBron James.”
A lot of my peers and even my parents had the seriously feeling and were doubting me. So I tried out for the vigorous, competitive Jericho travel basketball team. As I was a beginner, I didn’t know many of the rules. I didn’t know what to wear; as I was wearing jean shorts for the first tryout. I didn’t have the athleticism that many basketball players need like speed, stamina, strength, and confidence. As probably you predicted, I didn't make the team. I was bummed. Many people decide to just give up or cry in their bedrooms everyday, but I want to be that one who changed that mindset. Literally the day I got cut, I tried to evolve to
People were giving me the stare like “Why is he here?!” I completely ignored it and moved on. At the end of the first practice, I felt like I was going to faint. I wasn’t used to this type of practice. Definitely my practicing over the summer didn't pay off, but I had to keep playing. The next six practices or so were like the end of the world for me. I was always thinking to myself, “Why did I waste my whole summer practicing for this stupid game.” It got to the point where I wanted to quit the team; and revert to my normal life as a gamer. Me and my parents talked to the coach, and he gave me the answer which I dreamed of hearing from someone since i started.
Coach says, “Keep playing son, I know you have the potential and I know you have it in you.” He also says “ That's the main reason I picked you. We need you on this team.” Those 29 words I will never forgot and even tell my grandkids. So I decide to return to the team. Things still didn’t go great with the other teammates, but the coach taught me a
I had eaten great all day and I was ready for hell. I got there and didn’t realize there were 100 kid trying out for 2 teams. Mikey and I started off by doing line drills and I wasn’t the best but I was doing what coach had asked everyone to do. I was the only one giving it 110%. Then long field passes were next. Again this was all new to me and I was just going with it. Thirty minutes into practice I felt a bump on my shoulder. It was coach Haven. He asked me, “Hey La Garsssa how long have you been playing lacrosse for? I responded with “oh you know 30mi…. he was shocked and wasn’t ready for the response. I did have great ball handling skills and I was working my ass
“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
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.
When I reached seventh grade, basketball took a different role in my life. I played on my junior high basketball team and absolutely loved it. From November to March, my life revolved around an orange ball. From seventh grade to eleventh grade, this was winter to me. I was a true student of the game, learning and improving constantly. I became fairly good, and even won some awards my eighth grade season. During my freshman year in high school, I once scored 29 points in a junior varsity game. When I stopped growing at 6’, however, it became fairly clear that there was no future in it for me as a player.
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.
Each day we would do different drills such as hitting, fielding, base running and more. There was really no way to know which drill is next they were all randomized to keep each player on their toes. Not every drill would be a drill that shows a player’s skill or how good they are. The coaches would do drills where they would give us game-like situations and see how we would react to see how we would perform in a live game. At the end of each week the head coach would sit down and talk with every player. At the end of week one the coach told me that he could tell I was very nervous and that I needed to relax because he knew I had the talent and skill for varsity baseball I just needed to show it. At the end of the three weeks the team had a inter squad scrimmage so the coaches could actually see how we performed in an actual game. I went into that scrimmage very relaxed and confident and came out feeling very confident and knowing that I did what I needed to do to make the
When the season started, I dedicated myself to my conditioning and practices. I became a profound basketball player, my life revolved around this sport. Literally, my mindset was “Basketball Is Life”. I remember rushing from my last class, struggling to get through the wave of students that roamed the halls just to go to the gym to get a few shots
I went from being on a team where I was a leader, and one of the best players on the field, to once again being the smallest player on the team and having to work for everything I deserved. My freshman year I was on the Junior Varsity team, where I played in most of the games, but my spot was always up for grabs. I felt as though people were always doubting me, and I was only out there because I was the best option for the team. In the offseason before my sophomore year, I worked really hard to get bigger, faster, and stronger to improve my odds at playing on Varsity. When tryouts rolled around, we had a new coach, and it felt like a chance for me to prove myself to the team and myself.
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 would get pounded on by the bigger and stronger players during practice and was discouraged early on. I thought about quitting within the first couple of months. However, when my family saw that I was having a hard time, and we sat down and talked about it. Even though the doctor suggested that I should never play contact sports, they believed in my capabilities and told me that if I worked harder than anybody else, nothing the doctor said would matter. As my first year of football came to an end, my dad began teaching me how to exercise. We lifted weights and ran together until I got the hang of it, then continued exercising on my own. I devoted all of my energy into everything I did, knowing that I had to improve each day in order to compare to the other
It happened watching it on television seeing all the great players such as Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Larry Bird. The most important influence would have had to been my mother who in her younger years played basketball for the Canadian junior national team. It was when she was playing at the gym I would tag along and just play around. Although I played both basketball and hockey until grade seven it just seemed I was better suited for basketball. With that rate that I had been growing at I was taller and with all the help that I received from my mom I had developed basketball wise much faster than many of the other children my age.
I first got involved in organized basketball when I was in the fourth grade. But I got involved in a different manner than most ball players; because of a physical disability, I could not actually participate in games and practices. However, I was never left out and I have always been part of the team; I am a basketball manager. I have loved every moment of being involved with basketball programs. I love every aspect of the game of basketball and that is why I chose to join a team by becoming a manager.
He told me If I never wanted to be good as one of my teammates i'd have to work for it and change my attitude. That summer I spent most of my summer working out and getting ready for the upcoming season. I started doing it by myself then I started to get more and more guys come. That group of guys I worked out with are like my family I spent so much time that summer working out with one group of guys. We all changed our work habits and
and I was terrified to mess up in front of everybody. My first game, I decided to skip the game and told my coach that I was sick. That was one of the worst decisions. They ended up winning the game and I wasn’t there. I could've been a part of the winning
I had played on the volleyball team all through my junior high days, and was a starter on the “A” freshman team when I reached high school. As a sophomore, I couldn’t believe it when I got the towel thrown in on me. I was devastated when I was cut from the team. Volleyball was my life; I absolutely loved the sport. How could they do this to me? Everyone told me things would turn out fine, but how did they know? A close friend of mine wrote me a letter stating, “I know that right now it is hard to accept the paths that God has chosen for us, but I am sure whatever you decide to do with what has been thrown in your way you can surpass everyone else”. I thought about what that really meant, and decided she was right. I had been thrown something I was not sure what to do with or how to handle, but with a little advice from my brother, Chris, I decided to take a risk and try something new. I chose to become a member of our school’s cross-country team.