Personal Narrative : The Experience Of A Basketball Game

We walked together to the field, the spikes on the bottom of my cleats clicking with each step on the parking lot pavement. A huge field with onlookers filling the bleachers on the far side came into view, lit up by the soft evening light. I spotted the girls on my team and my tired looking grey-haired coach. Me and my dad split up, me going to warm up with my team and my dad going to sit with the team parents. As I was passing with my teammates I watched the opposing team carefully. I observed how neat their drills were and how accurate their shots and passes were. They all looked so athletic and that really made me doubt myself. How was I supposed to prove to everyone that I was a good player if I had to play against a team this good? What if I mess up and the other team completely destroys my team? The loud buzzer that ended the warm ups sounded and both teams went to their side of the field. My coach called today’s starters out, and luckily he didn’t choose me. Relieved, I went to go sit on one of the hard metal chairs they provided for the teams on the sidelines. The chairs were uncomfortable but that didn’t bother me. I had other things on my mind. I sat shivering watching the events of the game

basketball interests me because I have played since i was 4, and i haven't stopped.

“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 day was October 8th, 2014. I hardly played. One school day, my 5th teacher, Ms. Smit said, “flyers for the basketball team on the table” ordinarily I took one. Kids from 4th, 5th, and 6th grade came to try out for the team. After tryouts, a paper next to the nurse's office was hung up. The paper sheet named those who had made the team. Surprisingly, I made the team, most likely from my height. I felt like I shouldn’t have made the team. At the time, I barely started to play basketball. I went to the practices at school and tried to make myself a little bit better, since a tournament was about to begin in a few weeks.

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,

“Honey, you have so much left to learn,” She starts as she looks at me her eyes full of warmth, “just because you’re younger doesn’t mean you can’t put just as much effort into it. You play with so much passion and that’s what makes you different than all those other kids.” she grabbed my bag from the backseat, “I know that it’s scary and that all you want to do is give up, but why not just try? What’s the harm in trying? If you don’t make the team no one will hold against you. You just need to be confident and I guarantee you those coaches will fall in love. Do your best and that will always be enough.” She handed me my bag and I looked down at it. I was having an internal war inside my head debating on listening or just giving up. I finally let her words register in my mind and I realized she was right. I opened the door and hopped out of the car. I almost left, but before I did I turned back and

Starting my sophomore year I was anxious for the season to start and to experience the exhilarating energy of a packed gym. As I got ready for my first taste of varsity basketball the worst thing I could think of happened. I injured my ankle at practice, but because of my determination to get on the court

The end of November was one of the most important days of my basketball career. I was trying out for the junior basketball team to represent this school, P.G.S.S. It was a really nervous experience for me but, I had known some people that were trying out, including one of my best friends. When the tryouts were over, I was the last one that wasn’t called up yet. In my head I was thinking,” I didn’t make it.” Then couch Troye and Jenni called me up and told me there is a spot on the team, and it is mine if I want it.

I was just swinging my bat, over and over again, with no thoughts in my head. The methodical movement of my bat and the sound of the breeze it makes, was calming to me. My mind was blank as I was just going through my on deck routine. But like always, a few thoughts slipped in. You are going to strike out again, for the third time, my mind told me, You are going to let the whole team down, and lose the game. The championship game. I battled the little devil me on my left shoulder, who was feeding my brain these awful thoughts, by repeating an encouraging phrase. You got this Ashley, you got this Ashley. Feeling better about stepping up to the plate, I look up, only to feel my entire body fill with dread. The catcher was just standing up a little

I dribbled left, crossed over to my right hand and went in for a layup, and...BANG! The door to the garage flew open and I missed the basket by a mile. “Emily! I just got the email! You are one of seven girls to make the Prime Time basketball team!” my mom yelled form the doorway. I felt as though the sun had just got ten times brighter, and the rest was a blur. I thought back to my tryouts.

The last time I was at a event was at the Marquette basketball game. When we arrived we walked in and showed the security guards our tickets. They ripped the paper part of the ticket off and tossed it into the garbage. It smelled like sweet nuts and body odor as we got past the first check. After, we started walking to our seats. We had to walk up a lot of stairs to get to our destination. When we got there and the people asked if we needed anything, we all said not at the moment but maybe in a little while. When I sat down, I saw a huge sea of blue and yellow Marquette jerseys and a couple red ones for the opposing team. There was 3 minutes until game time and they were flying around a large blimp with t-shirts looped to the bottom to drop.

My cousin and I were in my neighborhood walking around. We decided to take a walk because

So this happened in 8th grade and it was wednesday morning me and my friend we eating

Our first three games as a team were bad, scores of 48- 05 and other scores like that, but we got better. By the end of the season, I was so much better than I was last year. As point guard, I felt more like a leader. As a team, we progressed and progressed, some wins, a lot of losses, but the last were the roughest (except for that 48-05 loss). We lost to a lot of good teams and got really mad, but we also won three or four out of the eight games. It was a hard season, but we got through it, persevering, through every loss then coming back and winning against next team.

went to the football game where Utica played Hartwick. It was a very cold night but it was a very fun game to watch. The game was Charles A. Gaetano Stadium and we were first sitting in the bleachers but we wanted to go stand on the fence because we saw more of our friends standing over there. We were standing by the far end zone so we got to see a lot of the touchdowns which was fun to watch. My friends and I like going to other sporting events because we like to see how the other sports are played and who is on the team and that we hope people come to our lacrosse games. I have always been a sports guy, for example I always football, basketball, and hockey on tv so it is a lot of fun being able to walk