Personal Narrative: My Junior Year Of Basketball

Basketball has always been an easy sport for me. 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.

I began to play organized basketball in 5th grade and have continued all the way through my senior year. Throughout my career I have grown tremendously each year, earning several improvement awards along the way. I had always struggled to assume my role on the team, but throughout my senior high career I learned how I best contributed to my team, earning several hustle awards and assist awards. I have learned through athletics how to be team player, and understand that not every player has the same role, which is also related to everyday life and life in the

“Friday night games with huge crowds. That atmosphere is hard to beat.” Senior Hunter Martin is playing through his fourth and final year on the Varsity basketball team. For two years in a row, he has been the starting foward. “Basketball hasn’t always been easy but I’m really glad I stuck through it all four years,” Martin said. Looking back on his accomplishments, Martin said that his favorite memory was was win the team won districts his sophomore year. “Nothing can compare to that moment of celebrating with my team.”

“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.

The worst part of the year was when we started to practice with junior varsity and varsity. I hated this part of the season due to them working us way harder than what we needed to, but also disrespecting a lot of the sophomores. Once the season ended, I still was not confident in what I wanted to do with basketball. I ended up not going to the basketball banquet due to me being sick and my decision on basketball was almost determined. A couple weeks after the banquet, there were workouts for the next year of basketball, and I was pretty sure I did not want to play basketball anymore.

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.

Our 8th grade basketball team were putting on a show! Opponents would enter bobcat territory where our team would play a hard fight to take another win. Every game spectators are left in astonishment after witnessing determination, willingness, and our spirit until the clock expires down to its last second.

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.

I am in love with the sport of basketball. The feeling of adrenaline I have before the start of a game, the satisfying sound of the swish of a buzzer shot, and the half-time coach-given-tension-filled talks work together to create an atmosphere unlike anything I have ever experienced. I have been playing basketball for as long as I can remember, and when high school finally came, everything intensified. My freshman year, I was placed on the varsity team. I looked forward to practices, tournaments, bus rides, and every inside joke and moment I would get to share with the girls on my team who, as an only child, became sisters to me.

Looking out in the crowd, I took a quick glance at the stands to notice a bunch of college and professional baseball scouts on a muggy summer night. In my mind all I could think to myself is that these coaches determine my future due to my performance. This was the moment that I have been putting in endless hours of brutal training for, to help me fulfill my dream of playing upper level baseball. As one of the coaches called me by my last name, I walked up to the spotlight where hundreds of coaches were looking at me as if I was a piece of meat at a meat auction. It was my turn to bat and throw, I can remember my heart racing as fast as a jet and I could feel the tension building up from my toes to my neck. I have never had this feeling before,

Have you ever been forced to do something that you really don’t want to do? It could seem like agony at first, but in the end it will usually always turn out OK. Well, at least it did for me. It all started on a chilly, winter morning in third grade when my mother’s heartfelt words and tears, changed who I am today for the better.

was 9 years old and 4th grade had just started which meant that my first official year of basketball was around the corner and everything had to be perfect. I would wake up in the mornings before school and I would go shoot come home after school and shoot again, it was the most practice I had ever done, in one thing, in my entire life. The first practice started in October and I was so overly excited I grabbed a ball and started my routine 5 lay-ups and 10 free throws. I knew my coach better than anyone, He was my father, so when he blew the whistle, I ran to the line and prepared for up and down sprints. We only ran for about 15 minutes, but it felt like days the way he ran us giving us only a few water breaks The entire team was wheezing and we were barely a quarter way through practice. I hear my Dad yell lay-up lines and I get excited because this is something if practiced so hard

Wow. . . this is my last year of playing basketball with my Ninja teammates. I remember when I joined the team back in 2009. Stephen Curry was only a rookie, Barack Obama had become our new president, and everyone still listened to The Black Eyed Peas. Man, those were the days. Anyways, I was beyond nervous when my parents drove me to meet the Ninja team for the first time. I played for Tri-City, and I was very aware that everyone on the team played for CYS. I prepared myself for some awkward interactions, but it turned out that everyone was extremely welcoming to me. I learned everyone's names and we had the opportunity to scrimmage for awhile. I had a great first impression of the team and the organization, but what ultimately convinced me

I was 13 years old, in the 7th grade, and loved the game of basketball. First Class Game, my AAU basketball team, had been my team for two years now. Even though I was in 7th grade I often played up with the older 9th grade team to keep my skill level at a higher level than the kids my age. I stayed in the gym during the summer and so did my teammates. The basketball gym was like our home away from home, and we were all like family.

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.