My Personal Experience Of Playing College Basketball

I walked off the floor with sweat dripping from my hair. So many thoughts flew through my head that I couldn’t focus on anything. My junior year of basketball felt like it ended as quickly as a blink. It was as if in seconds we went from the stars of the state tournament to the embarrassments of it. I tried to forget the disappointment of it but it still will not leave. My desire and love to win games comes from the more apparent hatred of losing them. Junior year we had a chance to win a state championship, but we lost that chance. That was when I realized that I had one chance left to win. Senior year our basketball success would only be as rewarding as we would make it. The pressure placed on ourselves was substantial, and we faced trials on the road to success. In the end, we stood alone, crowned as the champions, not letting our chance slip away.

One of the activities that I took part in that I feel has shaped me as a person, was basketball. I joined the Sea Point High basketball team in the tenth grade, in South Africa. Now basketball was not very popular in South African high schools, as such we lost our coach in my junior year. The choices that were given to the team was to either end the program or to continue without a coach. As team captain I rallied my teammates and we persevered through without a coach; we showed up for intensive training and competed against other schools. At the end of my senior year I was presented with the basketball player of the year; however I feel that award did not necessarily celebrate my skill in the sport, but it acknowledged the determination and

I walked into school to be greeted by a janitor vacuuming the floors. It was time to start thinking about the game and getting my focus level up. My pregame ritual wasn’t always the same beside for one thing, be the first to the locker room to have time to think to myself. Walking into the light blue and worn-down locker room it was almost like I could feel the emotion from all the players who had been there before myself. I was greeted by a wave of smell, the smell of victory, defeat, and pure hard work. It was quite musty but I was used to it and had grown accustomed to it. I sat myself down and began to think about how I would perform tonight and what I had to do in order to be victorious. I pictured myself going out onto the court and seeing all the fans packed into our old wooden bleachers. All I wanted to do was make them proud of the team they came to watch. I looked out the window to see the vehicles of my fellow teammates driving into our dirt parking lot. Soon, the locker room would no longer be quite and it would be filled with the shrieks, laughs, and giggles of my

Soon as I got off the bus, I rushed into my house, threw my book bag and jacket off onto the floor and ran to my room to get dressed for my game. When I finished getting dressed, my teammates and I went over to my friend Josiah’s house and hung out for a little before the game. We went out to eat, played, joked and even played a little pick-up game on his hoop in front of his house. As we left to go to the game, inside the van I started to get more excited and more nervous. I plug in my headphones to block out the noise and to get hyped up for the game that we would be playing in just one more hour. When we arrive at Boo Williams Sport Complex, where we were going to be playing at, I saw a variety of teams playing and there were so many different basketball courts.Watching how good these teams were made me think about how good the teams we were going to be playing. After I got to thinking about it, I was extremely nervous to the point where I thought I was going to throw up. The gym smelled like a bunch of basketballs and sweat, it smelled very bad. As we walk to our court to warm up I finally get to see the team that we were playing, at first sight they didn’t look too good. After warming up, my coach calls the starting lineup and calls my name for it. At tip-off I got more and more confident the more I touched the ball. Only about three minutes in I shoot my first three pointer and it goes in. As the game comes to the end my coach names me the MVP and I finished the game with nine points and no turnovers, we beat the opposing team 37 to 21. Our jovial game ended as a big

One of the greatest lessons I have learned as a high school athlete has been how to overcome adversity and to be resilient after failure. As with any sport, particularly basketball, many valuable character traits and qualities are obtained such as: an incredible work ethic, a competitive nature, and the ability to be an effective leader. If I had not been a basketball player, I would be lacking some of the important characteristics that make me a well rounded and whole person.

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

Although I wasn’t the best on the team, whatever I put my mind to I was able to accomplish. On the day of the last game of the winter season, I made a bet with my dad that if I would score eight points in the game then I could get a puppy. My dad agreed without hesitation because I have never gotten close to scoring eight points. I was someone who would score once, maybe twice a game, but I still made it a goal for myself to score four times which seemed nearly impossible. She won’t win, my dad thought. It’s impossible, he thought. I believed in myself when no one else did. As the game started I knew what was on the line and I would do anything to be able to accomplish my goal. I knew that my strength was free throws, so getting fouled four times would grant me the eight chances I would need to score eight points. I followed through and got fouled exactly four times and made all eight of the free throws. I won the bet. I knew I was not the best player and I knew that it was going to be a challenge to get to where I wanted to be, but I did not let those factors become an obstacle that would prevent me from reaching my goal. I used my strength of free-throw shooting to get my puppy. After the game I was congratulated by everyone who knew about the bet. This included my teammates, my brothers, my mom, and my dad. My dad walked out of that gym with a new perspective of his daughter: someone who can

While the NBA may seem more fun to watch because of its pro players, the NCAA has intense games as well as amazing rivalries. The NBA has a very long season of 82 games in every season while the NCAA can play a maximum limit of 31 games a season, making every game count for them as for the pros they have many games to make up for a loss. College basketball is better to watch than the NBA because every season game counts for them, the rivalries are worth watching, and their season is shorter and way faster.

Even the air was trembling. The gym was filled with a mixture of nervous and urgent, and all we need was another basket to break the deadlock. The score was 19-36, nearly 2 minutes left, however, the unstoppable cheering was still there, as well as our spirits. None of the girls on the court gave up, though we were not close to winning; every one of our eyes were blazed sharp and focusing, waiting for another steal or chance to shoot. In brief, before the timer buzzed, we would never give up on our game---which is the most valuable spirit in CCA sports. Our girls basketball game has the power of inspiration, because though they didn’t win, they supported each other with encouragement when difficulties come. All they do is to turn the failures

We rushed out onto the field for the last time. The chilly rain was pouring down. The field was soaked. With every step I took there was a sloshing sensation in my cleat. I put my game face on. No ball would get by me. We were going to score. We were going to win. For the next twenty five minutes, I watched a back and forth in the midfield. Several times I stopped the ball and passed it forward to Kaylee, only for the pass to be intercepted before we were able to score. And then, just as the clock was running down to under five minutes left, I stopped a hard pass just outside our circle. I dribbled for several

My stomach twisted at the thought of losing when we pulled into the McDougal High School’s parking lot. I ran into the building where our coach taught us the new positions until it was time to play. The ref blew the whistle and threw the ball into the air. I jumped up with my feet dangling off the ground and slapped the ball out of its orbit and ran down the court. I could feel my heart beating, I lurched to a screaming halt at the three point line and pushed the ball towards the basket. I shut my eyes hoping it would make it. I heard the ball drop to the ground and the crowd that was erupting with cheers, I opened my eyes and saw my teammates smiling. “That’s a girl!” my coach hollered as I ran towards the sideline and sat down on the bench. We ended up winning by 2 points after two overtime periods.

As I stepped on the field, I knew the next few minutes could make or break my college options. Although I was only a freshman, if I were able to make varsity, college would be closer in reach. The first feed I had from behind cage was low, my stick drug the ground as if I was using a shovel, I cradled through the ball and somehow came up with it, no problem. My next challenge was to finish the shot. As I made a fake and the ball plummeted to the ground, I knew I needed to step up my game. The second pass came right into the pocket of my stick, I faked low and shot high, directly into the top corner of the goal. I slowly jogged off the field, behind me I faintly heard “way to go kid”, I knew it must have been the varsity coach.

The crowd is cheering, the pressure, the weight of my team on my shoulders I take three dribbles and then I spring up and take a shot and. It was a December night on the day of the Oley Championship Basketball Game, against Oley. After the tip off, the game was in Oley’s hands. They played great defense, made a lot of their shots, but our team just played horribly and they were up by 16 points. At the end of the third the score was around 26-10 Oley, but in my head the game was not over yet because we still had 8 minutes to come back, and I always want to win. Nothing really happened in the first 4 minutes, but in the last 2 minutes I contributed with an assist and 5 points including a layup and a three.

Individually we made our way back onto the court. We couldn’t pull through as a team and the discouragement was toxic. I ripped the ball from the opponents hands and began to force my way up the court to make a layup, or assist Sydney from cross-court. The opponents gathered around me, and began to ferociously hit and push at me. I fell to the ground and lost the ball. I had failed the play. I looked back at my enemy, his eyes blackened, and mine widened when he screamed,

I looked up at the scoreboard and the time read 8 minutes left. As I looked at the scoreboard I felt a jolt of energy enter my body. I had felt as if a fire was lit under me. My eyes opened as if I had just seen a ghost. I remember thinking to myself, “how can we lose this game?” I made a promise to myself that I would win 4 state titles while being at Battlefield High School. This was my sophomore year of high school and I had already won one state title, how could I give up now and let my dreams be crushed, I worked too hard for that to happen. In that moment I knew there was only one result I was going to walk off the field with, and that was with a win and another State Championship. I took a deep breath and thought to myself, “My team needs energy. They need a leader.”