It all began on November 3, 2015 during my first middle school basketball tournament. The grey brick walls of the gymnasium looking more like a prison than a school. The school’s “Lincoln Park Elementary School” sign had graffiti and missed a couple letters from the name. The court was terribly small, but we began by playing the superb team of Jam on It. We were blown out and I headed back up to my mom and dad in the parent filled stands. The game wasn’t even fun to play and we looked like third graders playing them. I looked up to my parents as sad as could be.
I have not and will never forget those series of events. This time hurt me but also helped build upon my character. It was my freshman year of high school. I had decided to play soccer, which was not a hard decision for me since I had played travel soccer pretty much my whole life. Also my brother was in high school at the time and played for the boys soccer team, and had my dad as his coach. He loved it and was having a great experience playing high school soccer so of course I like to follow in my brother’s footsteps. I was very nervous at first. There were over eleven seniors on the team, and they were pretty intimidating to me. During the summer, I played with the varsity often and enjoyed it. As I kept playing with them and performing well, my nerves lessened. Finally when the actual season rolled around, I was put on full varsity. All my hard work had paid off. I was one of the two freshman put on varsity. I was ecstatic. I was actually very lucky at getting put on varsity because at this point in my life I played purely out of natural talent. I was never one to put in extra work outside of practice and be disciplined in the way I lived my life. I never really strived to be the best I could be. Making varsity made me somewhat of a threat for the older girls. Some were happy for me, others did not like the thought of a freshman on varsity. These girls were hard coore they were bound and determined to make it to state that year. They were not going to accept anything less than amazing. This put an incredible amount of pressure on us younger girls. I remember going to every practice nervous that I was going to mess up and they get mad at me. I never really felt at ease with them. In the first few games I got good playing time. I was doing really well. I was finally getting comfortable out there on the field, but that was not the direction God was taking me and with one swift kick of the soccer
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.
Basketball was my favorite sport growing up. I’ve played since I was little and I still play the game today. I played basketball at my elementary school, St. Cecilia, from Kindergarten till 8th Grade and also played AAU basketball for about 2 years before entering High School. Going into my freshmen year of High School, the first sport I played was basketball. Tryouts began in about the start of November and ended about 2 weeks after. I had made the Freshmen A team. I was excited and as the season progressed, we didn’t win many games but I still had fun playing. Nearing the end of the season, golf was another sport coming up that I also wanted to try and play. I say “try and play” because at the time, I was also going to play AAU basketball. I had set in my mind that I was going to play basketball for all of my four years of high school, but my parents pushed me to tryout for golf. When the basketball season ended, golf tryouts started. Tryouts lasted for about 2 weeks, and I made the JV team. When I found out I made the team, I was very surprised. I hadn’t put in the hard work as others before tryouts came around, but the coach saw potential in me and that I can become a great player. The coach saw so much potential in me, that every week, I kept progressing in skill and fine tuning my mechanics. Halfway through the season, about 4 or 5 weeks after I made the team, my coach gave me the chance to play with the Varsity Golf team for a couple days. I was excited and eager to
Seventh grade I played in the gym only but every time a coach looked I played my best if I had the ball. When it came to tryouts I tried my best, but when the results were posted I didn’t make it. But a after lunch 3 on 3 tournament was about to happen and I was put on a team a very bad team to add that. I did not care because for the first time in a while now I get to play semi for real. I was happy once again
In my sophomore year of high school, the successful club volleyball season was coming to an end. I was eager to be a starter on my high school varsity team because my coach had promised me a spot weeks before tryouts. Every practice I came walking in, confident as ever, ready to challenge myself to become a better player. My team mates supported me and gave me self assurance that I would be a great athlete.
“Wake up……….. It’s game day” my dad says. “ It’s the day we've all been waiting for and it finally came, your sophomore year of high school and you're starting on varsity” my mom adds. I get up and go eat breakfast. My dad takes me up to the school to get ready for the big game today. State Championship basketball game, 13 seconds left in the 4th quarter, my team is down 73-70, we rebound the ball and they pass me the ball, rushing down the court as fast as we can to score before the clock runs out. I have the ball dribbling down the court as fast as I can. Sweat dripping hard like rain drops, my legs and arms are all bruised up, palms are sweaty, and I'm out of breath. I pass it to my teammate, Josh, and set a screen on his man, 9 seconds left. No one is open, so I roll back up to the top of the key and Josh passes the ball back to me. 7 seconds left, the guy that's guarding me is playing up close, so I hit a crossover on him to get past him. 5 seconds I move to the side 3 point line and hit a step-back move, the defender stumbles and the crowd goes ”oooooooooooooooooooo’’ 3 seconds left my heart is racing really fast, 2 seconds, I shoot the ball, 1 second, the ball goes around the rim, HORN BLOWS, it was so quiet and it felt like the world paused for a minute and it finally goes in and the crowd goes wild, the score is now 73-73. My teammates rush to me and pile on me. Everyone is happy and yelling, “ Tyler, Tyler, Tyler” We go to the bench listening to our coach talking
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
My freshman year flew by as I stood on the sideline game after game, not even caring that I wasn't playing. I was so intimidated by other better players on the team that I did not even want to try and get playing time. Just like that, my freshman year of football went to waste, and I wanted change. I started sophomore year with a new plan. I was going to work harder than everyone no matter who they were. The off-season started and I was introduced to our new JV coach, Coach Mike. The intensity of his practices left me to question every day if that practice was more exhausting than the last. Despite the difficulty, I worked as hard as possible every day, and it paid off. I did not know it at the time but I was not just growing physically, but also mentally. Football taught me leadership, sacrifice, discipline, bravery, selflessness, and most importantly, it taught me resilience. Playing football was and still is one of the most difficult things I've experienced, but football brings out one's true character, and for that very reason, I am glad that I was influenced that day into
Smack! Everyone could hear the sound of Billy getting smacked by Bob and Billy was on the floor with a big red mark on the side of his head. Everyone was shocked that Bob hit Billy for no reason but the next thing you know everyone is fighting in the middle of the basketball court and all the parents,referees,and kids were all trying to get to Bob and some of the parents were protecting Bob.
I have been in basketball since I was young, however, I did not play on a team until I was in fourth grade. I was dragged, into basketball because I was trying out new sports and I really liked it. Basketball helps me be more active and thrusts me to work as hard as I can. My brother plays basketball too, and we help each other out. When our team does well, we win medals or a trophy. My team has won both medals and trophies. This has been our first year ever getting first place in a few tournaments.
After my first game at running back, I felt like everyone looked up to me because the Coaches told me the next week that I was going to dress for the varsity game and play in the J.V. game, because I did so well at my game. I was so excited and proud of myself because of the perseverance that I showed. I could have given up, but I kept my confidence up and challenging myself to work harder and telling myself not to quit. After my freshman year the head coach of the varsity football team introduced me to my mentor.
I was about halfway through my sophomore year of high school. I was on the varsity soccer team and we were having a terrific season. We were hoping to make a run for state, which had never been done by the boys team since its inception 10 years ago. I did not receive a lot of playing time over the course of the season, but I was integral to the depth and strength of the team. At first, I had to prove to myself and my coaches that I could be an asset to the varsity team. I stepped up my intensity during the junior varsity games and focused all my energy during practice to make sure my efforts would not go unnoticed. My hard work and determination paid off and as a result, I was asked to join in the varsity practices. It was a great opportunity
To start off, I was one of the best basketball athletes at my school. I had been playing since I was in elementary out by the playground, and in pee wee games. As I grew and my game became stronger, I was playing on higher level teams. In seventh grade, I was on the eighth and ninth grade team. When I was a sophomore, I started over the seniors that
The sport of basketball is the sport I go to when I need to clear my mind. After a long stressful day of school, I go to my neighborhood court and I shoot basket after basket. I try to find time every day to play basketball. I want to make myself better. Whether it’s working on my ball handling skills, or just working on my three point jump shot, I practice all of my weaknesses. I have improved so much over the years it’s pretty hard to explain. Basketball has been there when I first moved to Kansas. I came to a new school and I had to find new friends. When those two things didn’t go so well, basketball was there when I needed it most. It got me through the first year of going to school in Kansas. I even found a team I could play with and