Personal Narrative: How Basketball Has Affected My Life

What makes me lose track of time , when people talk about about music or when people around me start talking about basketball. When people talk about basketball is grabs my attention because that's my favorite sport. Basketball has been my favorite sport since i been a young girl. Basketball is something that i admire with my heart . When people talk about music it attracts me because i am in love with music . Music takes my mind of a lot of stress and a lot of things that aggravate me . Basketball is something that i really love to do. When I want to learn more i go to basketball practice and i listen to the coach so i know more about it and i go online and learn about it . Music when i want to learn more about it i listen to new music and I try

“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.

Learning the game of basketball has changed my life for the better. As a little girl, my father believed that I would be an incredible athlete. As soon as I could shoot a basketball, my dad took me to a park to develop my skills. Practicing constantly led me to fall in love with the sport. Basketball became more than just a game, it became a passion. Pursuing this passion has been rewarding, inspiring, and empowering.

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 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.

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.

The game of basketball has influenced my life in several ways. Basketball has made me a fearless competitor. It has also molded me into a self driven, hard working young lady. Without the game of basketball, I wouldn’t be half the person I am today.

Basketball became a place where I could exhibit my talent and it has been so for the past 7 years. Each time I play a match, I set a target for myself to be the top scorer of that game. I only settled for the best. The feeling of a 3 point shot swishing into the net and blocking a shot from my opponent left me feeling immensely satisfied and cool.

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

After waiting three weeks, I was finally cleared to play basketball again only to suffer another one. I was out after receiving an elbow to the head in a previous game giving me my first concussion. Walking onto the court at Eden Valley High School, I could feel the nerves rush through my veins. The whistle blew and the game started. I was going up to grab a pass when an opponent ran into me. Black. In those moments I was unconscious, I could only remember colliding with my opponent. I woke up in a car, my head aching as I sat up and saw bright beams of light off the street lights. The light stung my eyes and made me feel like the world was spinning a million miles per hour. “Stay awake sweetie we are almost home,” whispered my mom. Every heartbeat thumped in my head like a bass with the music to loud. I was so discombobulated and hurt I just laid there in the back seat

After years of basketball taking up most of my time, I knew that at some point I was going to need to stop. What I did not know, was when that time was going to come. This past year, I have made the bold choice to stop playing. If I played one more year, I felt as if it might ruin basketball for me. Basketball has always been the way I was able to forget about everything going on around me and just focus on one positive thing.

I began playing Basketball freshmen year as a way to release my emotions and forget the thoughts that gave me stress or made me overthink. My coaches gave me the nickname of “Mean Darline” because of how tough and aggressive I would get when being on defense. Little did they know that I wasn’t good at that position because I loved Basketball but because it maintained me calm and allowed me to express myself in a socially approved activity. When the season was finished and I retired from Basketball after my sophomore year I went back to going to the gym three to four times a week. Gym workouts or any physical activity is great to rechannel one’s unacceptable impulses without others criticizing us for our actions.

My basketball is one of a kind because I received this great gift on Christmas day from my dad. What was so awesome that the rockets were playing! First, he gave me a wrapped box and I said in my mind ‘’what is it’’ second, I opened it and I was the supreme logo (a very expensive brand), and I thought wait could it be a basketball third, I opened the box and I see a supreme basketball to my knowledge. Then I see a signature and I asked who’s signature is it my dad said ‘’James Harden’’ my jaw dropped. I was so happy like a child on Christmas day.

Basketball is my favorite sport because I remember at a very young age of about three or four years old, in 1998, I first watched a National Basketball Association (NBA) game. I was watching when the Chicago Bulls was playing as I sat in the living room with my father and my uncles. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but my eyes were glued to the television when I saw Michael Jordan dunked on two people. His performance gave me the motivation and I started playing basketball to make a career out of it. I wanted to move my family out of the poverty without any financial worries so I stared practicing each day. Every day as I was on the basketball court playing, I used to wake up early in the morning dribbled the basketball from my house to the basketball court and into the park. I was about fourteen years old about to go to high school so I was practicing to make the tryouts. It was the summer time like around July 2009 and at first, I wasn’t good enough so, I told my mother that I needed a couch to work on my feet and left hand. She called one couch up and we had a one on one session to train me. After practicing, I went back to the courts and played a full court game with older and bigger guys. It was five on five and I was the youngest of them. I had a little jump shot, but I really had a back board shot. I was good with angles for a little man at that time, but I was only getting better. I started challenging grown men that were old enough to be my father. I lost some games, but won a lot plus my younger brother was always there with me. He used to stay on the sidelines watching because he couldn’t play with me. Yet, he was too young at the time to