Personal Narrative: My Trip To The Gonzaga Girls Bball Game

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

In life, you encounter many situations and people that aid in molding you into the person you are meant to be. When these instances in time occur, we may not realize it, but looking back they made a huge impact on our lives. For the past four years, I have been a member of the Navarro Runnin’ Lady Panthers Basketball Team, and while the sport itself taught me many lessons and skills I can use to be successful, there was one coach that managed to do the same.

It was any other Ole Miss basketball game. I had gotten my box of popcorn and a huge, cold, fizzy coca-cola. I was in the same seat I always was, between my sister and my dad, and I had the same humongous guy sitting right in front of me. Even though I was only 7 and wasn’t actually sure what was going on, I still wanted to see what was happening! Of course, I wasn’t going to ask this person to move, I had no idea who he was but, that didn’t last much longer.

“Vivian, we are the only two returning players on the team next year”, my co-captain for the Mira Mesa High School Tennis Team notified me.

It was great talking with you. I always enjoy meeting someone from SC. Plus you are a Gamecock fan like myself. I went to the A&M game last year when they came to town. Hopefully this season is better than the last one.

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.

One situation in which I overcame adversity is making b-team basketball for White Knoll High School. Basketball has always been a love of mine. I first fell in love with basketball when I went to an Atlanta Hawks game with my dad when I was 5. Afterwards, my dad purchased a basketball goal to go over the garage and we spent most our weekends playing in the driveway. The next year my dad signed me up for a recreational league in the area, and I played in the same league for 5 years. My dad was my very first coach. The pride he'd have on the sidelines when I made shots or played good defense forever cemented my love for the game of basketball.

There were 3 families going to Toronto, Canada to watch the “Panama Girls Basketball Games.”They were staying in a large house in a small neighborhood. When it was time to go to the basketball game we had to drive to a small train station about 3 miles from the house. The train station was very small it only had a few trains going to the station. As we walk up the concrete stairs to the track we can here wheels on the solid metal track. As the train pulled up it kept going and you saw lots of heads from the large windows go by.We got on a long silver train with about 25-30 cars and each had two levels. You walked onto one of the cars and the seats were blue with red,yellow, and white spots on it. The carpets match the seats and each car had maybe 20 seats and seat held 2 people.

It was a little difficult to pick an event with my busy schedule and everything. I finally picked one though; it ended up being a female soccer game. The reason I choice this one is because I don’t really like watching sports, except paintball. Unfortunately, AUM doesn’t have a paintball team, and I didn’t want to watch men running around in shorts. The other reason I choice this event it was it at the home field, so I wouldn’t have to drive a distance to see it.

I still remember that first game, 10 years old dressed in a blue and white cheerleading costume, and pom poms in my hands. The teams comes running out of the locker room and the crowd goes wild, standing and cheering. My mom kept talking about her first game, and watching the guys shot the basketball and taking pictures of her favorite players. The game ended that day, and the Villanova men’s basketball team won that day.

Gabe’s quote that he chose that best represented his presentation stood out to me. I can relate to these words of wisdom with volleyball. Getting to the State Tournament is never easy for high school volleyball. My sophomore year we fell short in the second round to qualify and that was so disappointing for our team. The next year we came back with lots of intensity and drive, but fell short in the last game before qualifying. Fortunately, we took all the anger and disappointment and worked our tails off. We ended up qualifying, it was one of the coolest experience that has happened to me, and it shows that hard work pays off in the end, and to never give up.

I do believe that it is very important to be involved with not only your school but also

I first started playing volleyball at a very young age. I was in the seventh grade when my volleyball career started. My sister started playing in the seventh grade and I just wanted to follow her footsteps. My seventh grade year was ok because I had just started out and really didn’t know the game. There was A team and a B team, where A team was better than the B team. I tried my best to be on the A-team, but guess where I ended up, on the B team.

Basketball seems to get into your blood. It is said by those who play, "You eat, you sleep and you play basketball." When I was a little girl all I wanted to be was a professional basketball player. I couldn't count how many times I pounded that dumb ball in our driveway until it was too dark to see, then I would play for hours more by the porch light. Now I realize that was only childish insanity. Back then they didn’t even have a girls’ profession basketball league in the states. However, that didn't stop me from walking away empty handed. One thing I learned was how to prepare oneself for life. Well, at least, how to prepare oneself for a game.

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.