When I was in the sixth grade, I moved to a new school and joined my first academic bowl team. It was a new experience for me. I was an outsider coming into this new group. Everyone thought I was just another dumb athlete, but I knew I had brains, too.
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
When I was in 6th grade I tried out for O.V.A. (volleyball) for the first time. From doing it I learned that when you put your heart into something you will accomplish it.
Sophomore year came, and I was nervous because now there was jv dark and varsity to worry about. I came to tryouts, and gave all my effort on volleyball as well as my friends. They had made the teams, and I never expected to be in jv dark. My best friends didn 't made it to jv dark but I couldn 't miss this opportunity. In addition, I was depressed that I could not be with them, but I needed to be in a team that I knew it was going to help me become better. It surely did because now there was more tasks that I could do. My serves were something no one could receive. Consequently, the only horrible part of jv dark is that I never had the chance to play. I came to practice everyday and I followed instructions, I never complained if we ran, but the coach never showed me that I could be in the court. I did showed her, I tried to show off my abilities in volleyball for her to notice. As a result to that she always put me aside. In effect of this, it brought me down I
I was only in first grade when I picked up a basketball for the first time. I had observed my father, my brother, and my cousins all play it before me. Little did I know that the sport would lead me to new opportunities, incredible friends, and numerous championships.
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.
I was the team captain and one of the carriers of the team. I was quite confident in myself and knew the consequences of not playing. But when I became a freshman in high school and could not play on the middle school team I had one option, to play on the varsity team. I was nervous because I had made friends on the middle school team, but did not know the dynamic of the varsity team. When the first practice rolled around I was anxious. After the first practice I had completely changed. I was no longer the confident player I used to be. Players who played 24/7 surrounded me. I lost confidence in myself and became hesitant to even dribble the ball. Not being as good as the starting five just motivated me to push myself and try harder during practice to prove myself to the
It just seems like it would be natural for me to begin playing organized basketball at an early age, but I did not other than the rough and tumble playground ball at recess. I began to yearn to play on a real team, and soon I would have my chance. It was the summer before the sixth grade, and I managed to talk my father into purchasing me a basketball and my mother into purchasing the rim. We put the rim up onto the shed and I began practicing.
I was confident. I was a better basketball player and everyone knew it. Each day after tryouts I told my dad "I've got it this time." Needless to say, once again my name wasn't on the list. I was so dejected that I couldn't even look my dad in the eye when he picked me up. That night, I went straight to bed and skipped dinner. I later found out both my mom and dad silently cried because they knew how hurt I was. My friends kept telling me I should have made the team, but that didn't change the fact that they were playing and I just had to sit in the stands and watch night after night. I went to every single game that season, and supported my friends; all the while feeling empty because I couldn't be out there with
As I started my senior year of highschool, I was approached by my head basketball coach. He approached me to tell me that he wanted me to help coach middle school basketball. At first I was a little skeptical because I already was incredibly busy. Because I did not want to disappoint my coach, I decided that I was going to go ahead and do it. I missed the first four days of practice because I had cross country practice after school. On a Friday, I was able to go to a practice. We went over our plays and scrimmaged each other. I was a little flustered because I had no idea the name of most of the kids. Practice ended and the head coach told me that I was coaching the B team on my own the next day. I was surprised to hear him say that. I couldn’t believe that I was going to be coaching a whole team on my
The next day I made all my shots and layups i even dunked. The coach was impressed and he said to me you”ve made my team. I was very excited But, the people that made the team didn’t seem and even made negative remark towards me said i am not a “basketball player”, “you cannot play”,I didn't listen to them and continued to play the game.My coach, fans, and students realize the conflict between me and the other teammates during games and practices. Within The week of me being on the team the coach held a personal meeting me with me and the other teammates. The coach lectured the other teammates saying it’s not right how you don’t accept me as a basketball player how would you feel if you was in his shoes.After the lecture from my coach The players started realizing i am worth something and welcomed me in open arms but i didn't received there welcoming.I didn't have chemistry with my teammates during the whole season but i was cordial with them i was there if they really needed me . The only person that i had chemistry with was my coach he never doubted me and he seen potential in me from tryouts to the end of the season which all that counts in my
One time when playing travel baseball my team played in a 16 youth tournament , and we were the only 14 and 15 year old team. We were a very small team in size and numbers , but we had a great amount of talent for our size and age. The tournament took place in Columbus Ohio. We were the only team from Tennessee in the tournament , and we worked very hard all year to make it to the tournament. We played up in pretty much every tournament all season , so we came prepared to see some very talented and big teams. Sure enough we showed up to our hotel the first day arriving and there were tons of teams staying in the same hotel , and by the looks of these teams we were by far the smallest team. The next day was the start of the tournament and we
One morning during practice, my coach approached and requested that I play the point guard position for the upcoming tournament in place of my friend who was unable to participate due to a sprained ankle. Initially, I was very apprehensive about taking this position as they held the crucial responsibility of constantly assessing the situation and determining the best course of action for the team to take. Unsurprisingly, my performance during this first practice was disastrous due to my lack of experience. However, despite my initial failure, I did not remain discouraged for long. I began examining the habits of the varsity point guards during practice and accepted constructive criticism from my teammates to help improve my results. Eventually,
SWOOSH!! I made my first basket ever, but it was only 1 minute into the the first quarter, and only the first game of the season. I still had ways to go, but when the crowd stated cheering for me that's when I realized that I love basketball and that it was going to be a good season.
On the last day of tryouts, the coaches made cuts for the teams. They called each one of us separately to meet. The head coach started off by saying that I was a good player and that I had a lot of potential. Then, the praise quickly dropped off.