Final Cut In Basketball During My Sophomore Year

When I was younger I used to play sports especially football. I remember playing in the championship game for Coral Reef Senior High against American Heritage Senior High. It was my last high school game and for us to remain undefeated throughout the season. I also knew I had to bring my “A” game because of college scouts were going to be at the game. Our game was to be played at Florida International University at 7pm. My team and I went to the FIU stadium two hours before the game started to stretch and loosen up. So as the time was winding down for us to play we step on the field, all I could see was a lot people in the stands cheering us on. I kind of had butterflies in my stomach but I had to put that feeling aside and help my team win.

It was my Junior year in high school and I had decided to join the Color Guard team . I was really nervous because if you were selected you would go around the city doing color guards and representing our school. I went to all the practices that usually took place before school early in the morning. When I struggled with something I kept practicing to get done right. When I saw other people who struggled I would ask if they needed help. My instructors saw what I was doing and kept a closer eye on me for it. Eventually it came down to try outs day and the teams were

My freshman year we entered playoffs with a hopeful optimism that in our first year in 3A, the largest division, we could make a statement that we were here to stay. In the end, the game didn’t go our way. There were some questionable calls made but in the end, it is what it is: we weren’t good enough to win. A tough reality but often times you learn more from a loss than from a win. Sophomore

I was on the little pee wee team called the Panthers. I was only 10 years old when I first started playing for the team. At first when joining the team I was doubtful on whether or not I would be good enough to play. That moment when Coach Smith called my name I knew it was time. During that first game we were playing against the Cubs. I was wearing number 95. Then all of a sudden I found myself at the line of defense; shaking full of nerves. This was my first time on the field with a team; a team that had my back and knew that I had theirs. My family came out to my game to support me. At first that was all I could focus on was them shouting my name. I had to focus, I hit my helmet to get myself in the zone; I had seen the professional football players do that on TV so I took a chance and tried it out. I was bent over, mouth guard in, and saliva dripping out, I even growled to

I worked out everyday and practiced every chance I got. When the first day of tryouts came around again, I woke up that morning like every other day, but I knew today was different. I knew that today was the day I was going to redeem myself. When I got to the field most of the guys looked familiar, a few of them even joked around with me and asked "you're back for more?" Unlike the previuos year, I was ready for this tryout. I proved to everyone that doubted me and said I couldn't and I earned my spot on that team. The moment I saw my name on the team's roster was one of my proudest

Not making the baseball team was easily the most humiliating thing I experienced. The whole week after I couldn’t even look at a baseball without thinking of how big of a failure I was.

I was deadlifting too much weight and my back ended up giving out and I ended up failing to keep myself strong. This was a great struggle my sophomore year and took a good amount of time to process and realize I would not be playing that season. The recovery was a long road and I had to watch my team every single

It was my junior year and football season was over. We had won the state championship. It was time to relax and enjoy basketball season. Basketball season was always a fun time. I was a grade younger than most of my friends who were on the team. I was always the kid that was brought up to sit on the bench or be the sixth man. I never really got too much playing time, however, sometimes if there was a big man on the other team, or some sort of foul trouble for one of the seniors, I would get in. I had been playing with these same kids since the 6th grade. My role on the team had been the same all the way up to this point. That was ok with me. What I really enjoyed though were all the trips and tournaments and just hanging

The most challenging experience for me recently would be when I tried out for the varsity baseball team and did not make it. This is important to me because sports have been a part of me for all my life and its hard going without them. When I was told I was not going to be a part of the team because of my skill level it killed me emotionally. I was determined to practice as hard as I could so I could be a part of the team the next year. I went to my old coaches to ask them for advice. They reassured me and convinced me to play club baseball for the year to see how things play out. I'm glad I took the route I did and asked for advice. Now I'm practicing every week and hoping to try again this upcoming year for a spot on the

Last year I was on the A team for my age group, but I got a concussion that lasted a long 8 months. I wasn't able to play in the games or practices. Soon tryouts came again and one of my coaches told me that I still had great skill but I fall behind the other A team players. One of my greatest memories was after my tryouts when I was getting into the old beat up blue toyota sienna in the grass parking lot with my mom. She asked me of how it went. I told her that I was very

My freshman year of high school Coach Specht was the assistant soccer coach, at tryouts he told me that I would have a bright future as a player and could possible play varsity as as a freshman. Throughout the year I keep putting in the time and finally half way through the season I got my chance to play my first varsity game. This

My sophomore year I did not expect to be playing varsity until the coach came

I can remember two plays vividly. The first was when I played fullback. It was third and long which is more times than not a passing situation, but this time the coach put his faith in me to make the first down. I remember getting the hand off and was running to the left. I got through the hole and saw a defender. I lowered my shoulder and ran over him, but I wasn’t to the first down yet. All of a sudden there were four people on me and I had my mind made up that I wasn’t going to let my team down, so I kept my legs driving carrying people and finally made it to the first down. Right there I knew that I could be a great player. The second play was a defensive play. The opposing team was up by three points and time was running out. The coach yelled from the sideline “We need a play,” so I took it upon myself to be the playmaker. The ball was snapped, it was a toss to my left. I saw the running back sprinting out and I took my pursuit angle. I met him head up and he started to go down and in the back of my mind I heard my coach’s voice and that made me do something I had never done. I stripped the ball out of his hand and ran for a touchdown. My team won. The next phase of my football career was about to begin now, middle school.

Freshman year of football was an eye-opener for me, and the rest of the team. It was our first year in highschool and all the big changes distracted a lot of us. Us, as players, learned new plays and new techniques that we would use all throughout our years at West Delaware. I remember feeling swamped in all the new information that was thrown my way. Coach Morris, and Worden did an outstanding job of letting us process the new material and made us comfortable with what we were learning. Practices were very fun and laid back, but our performance on the field showed that. Yielding a 2-6 record that year, I recall my thoughts walking off the field for the last time after getting . I was thinking, “Is football for me? Should I really play next year?”. The question stayed in the back of my mind all through the winter. Eventually spring rolled around and I was forced to make my decision.

As the season went on, I had worked on my skills and had begun to have personal success in games. As soon as I know it, I ended up being brought up to varsity to add depth since many of our starters had gotten hurt. Even though I did not get much playing time on varsity, I was still very glad to make the team. I knew that hard work really does pay off.