My Basketball Journey

“Come on guys,” I yelled. I heard the screech of the referee’s whistle. Rushing to the bench, I heard the referee call out “Timeout, Heat.” Everything was on the line and our team’s championship hopes, being foremost on our team’s minds, was all coach could scream about. “I’m not going to tell you how to play basketball,” he yelled out. “That’s your job. I’m just going to say that right now, to us, this is a championship game. If we win this, we move on to the championship. If not, at least let us fall valiantly.” That got the whole team riled up as we rushed back onto the court. The crowd, encouraging as always, yelled out their approval on the fact that we were giving it our all. With just sixteen seconds left in the game and our team down by four, something special had to happen or we were done for the season.

Basketball was a new experience to me a few years ago, but i never realized I was going to love it. When I was younger, I’ve always wanted to play the sport of basketball, and I got my opportunity to play when I was in fifth grade at Monte Vista Elementary.

When I was younger, basketball was all I wanted to play, it just looked like so much fun. In fifth grade I had my parents sign me up for CYB, then in sixth grade I tried out for middle school basketball and played all the way up until ninth grade. In middle school when I was in eighth grade I was awarded the captain position and that helped me build leadership and responsibility. All of the players especially the younger ones knew they could always come to me at any time if they needed anything or help with anything. High school basketball was a lot different than middle school. In middle school I was one of the star players so I played a lot but in high school that changed. I sat the bench a lot that taught me patience and understanding even

“Are you interested in this?” , my dad asks multiple times about multiple sports. I as a four year old just learning about sports, and watching them with my family decide that basketball is for me. So I go on to rec league… I learn how to dribble, pass, and shoot. Time passes and by middle school I can shoot left-handed layups, cross-over behind my back and in between my legs. High school is here.. and I become even more advanced not just with fundamentals, but mentally, and even more aggressively, and physical. I have a purpose, I love the game, and I want to play it as long as I can.

I see myself in the NBA or the NFL, making enough money to have a house and food for my family. I will be visiting my family on my off days and helping them with what they need, and making sure I take care of myself, and keeping myself in shape. I’m going to be in the NBA, hopefully on the Chicago Bulls; my favorite team in the NBA because it's my home state. My favorite player Derrick Rose is on their and that team is a good team. My school has a basketball team I got people in my school that can help me with my goals. In five years I see myself you're in a basketball or a football team, having good grades and keeping my healthy. I'm going to be the oldest child in my house I'm I have to watch out for them especially my little brother Daniel.

On a saturday morning the philomath basketball team had a basketball game very early in the morning. I went in the gym and saw my team warming up and I remember looking up from tying my shoes and just see what I thought was a NBA team. When I was walking over to the lay up line I heard there shoes shaking the ground as they would walk and jump the ball not even touching the rim when they would shoot a three and the two post that were 6,2 I know that doesn’t sound talk but for us in 7 grade that was tall. We go back to are bench as we hudl up and I remember my Dad whispers in my ear just post up strong the first time and i promise you he will get scared and not want to play. I remember looking at are crowd and seeing my brother and all his friends laughing and not even looking at the game in front of them.

I sat with my head sunken into my hands, my eyes were burning, and my head was spinning. I was sitting on the bench during the final minutes of what would be the last basketball game that I would ever play. I had played basketball for over fifteen years, and I had never imagined how I would feel once it was all over. My high school team had made it to the region semi-finals during my senior year, and we had to play Bearden. It turned out to be my last basketball game, because my team had lost. I never realized how much basketball had impacted my life until that game. I knew that basketball was important to me, but I never thought that it would lead me to where I am today, especially a single game.

It was a typical day in the McClain household. Everybody was woken up at exactly 7.00 am. Mom said the prayer and then everybody went to school. Little did they know, a massacre was going to occur that night.

From the earliest exposure to algebra and basic equations, students are taught that subtracting something from only one side of the equation unbalances it, until one adds an equivalent expression to that side. I never realized that this could have an application outside of purchasing large quantities of fruit until my basketball career came crashing down. My coach told me before my sophomore season, “Zack, you will be in the rotation.” I later learned that he meant the water boy rotation until one game, where I experienced the thrill of playing for twenty four seconds. For twelve years I equated winter with basketball, but with my realization that my time as a basketball player was over, I suddenly had an equation where winter equaled zero.

Basketball is a game played between two teams (of five players) who try to score baskets by throwing a ball into a netted hoop. That is what I am going to tell you a story about today. This is a story about my first ever playoff basketball game. My basketball team is not the biggest but each and everyone of us plays our heart out. The team that we were playing was not very good. Those are low standards too because we aren’t very good either! Out of the gate, you could tell that we were a better team. We went up by a couple of points but after that they figured out our offense. Our coach called a timeout and we changed our game plan. I was not playing good either and I am the best player on the team.

The most spontaneous thing that I have done is just playing basketball. Basketball is spontaneous to me because I just wanted to start playing the game. Therefore, my 8th grade year I played basketball for my school team and I wasn't really feeling basketball. Summer of freshman year I played summer league for L.H.S and I felt a burst of energy for the sport. After, a couple of games one of my teammates wanted me to go to their house. Little did I know I was going to get extra practice for the sport.

A time when I patiently waited for God’s plan to unfold was when I first tried out for club volleyball 2 years ago around November at Saint Thomas More gym. I didn't know a lot of people except for a coach my family is friends with and kept things to myself. I didn't feel confident with my overall performance, but I knew that there were some that probably wouldn't qualify. Later, I received a call from the club saying that I made it. I am so glad that God gave me this talent and made many new friends over the season from other schools and are on my 13s team now and make me feel like a new person.

there just isn't a lot of basketball talent where I live, but I hope to change

One rainy night in November, I arrived to the church gym for my first basketball practice of the season. As I walked in the doors creaked and you could smell the gym floor. As I already heard the basketballs hitting the ground, bouncing up and down. My friends Brittany and Destiny walked in right behind me through the door. That was when we realized we were the only girls surrounded by all guys. As practice came to a start we began to run, it felt like we were never going to stop. Up and down the court as we ran suicides, you could hear the squeaking of shoes as we went from the next line back and then on to the next. Before we started scrimmaging, the two captains were boys. Brittany, Destiny, and I stood in amazement as we were the last three standing there. You could see by their expressions they didn’t want any of us on either team.

It was a normal day well I thought it was. I got to talk someone who I never thought I would ever talk to. It all started when these girls where bullying me on my basketball team. The next week I went to school and then came home it was a day that came home it was a day that I would have practice. My mom told me to go get ready so I did. I thought that I was going to basketball practice so I had shorts and a shirt on. My mom asked me “what are you wearing”? I asked her “what are you talking about don't I have practice tonight”. She told me “there is no practice to night there is a game at the gym so there is no practice because of the game”. I said “well then why did you tell me to go get ready”? Then she said “so we can go to the game”. So I ran into my room and hurried up and changed into some different clothes I did not know where or who was playing I just wanted to go to the basketball game basketball is my life.