Tension In The Basketball Room

Everything was dark, black and quiet. Nothing felt right and when the flickering light at the end of the hall stopped and stayed lit I wanted to run. Slowly shadows grew on the floor and on the wall, people I knew appearing from the darkness. Zack the cheater, My hate filled mother, abusive father, my brother. Every person that causes me pain appeared even my once best friend Nikki who left me for the cheerleaders. I felt uncomfortable and was slowly suffocating from the blank looks and the little light that shined in the hall.

It was early July in Southern California: the sun was high, the air was warm, and the palm trees were swaying. Unfortunately, the bright sun could not light the darkness of the pit I had been slowly falling into during my tumultuous school year at my new charter school. On that day, when the other girls were tanning beachside, I was sitting deskside. I was trapped in a tiny, moldy, yellow-carpeted education office at the school I had transferred to the year prior. Like my fading hope, the dusty chandelier was barely hanging on from the ceiling. The room’s peculiarity added to my anxiety, as I felt failure lingering in the musty air. Though I had been sheltered by my parents’ optimism, I knew what I would soon hear: “I am so sorry sweetheart,

It was 9 a.m. and my mom barged into my room. She turned on my light and told me to get ready. The light hit my face forcing me to wake up. I could hear my mom and dad packing and loading our luggage into our truck. Today’s the day, I thought, Today was my last softball tournament for at least 4 months. I got that same feeling that I get when you go down the first arch on a roller coaster in my stomach. This happens every time I have a tournament or game. My stomach flips and I get butterflies in my stomach. I get nervous to make a mistake, make everyone mad, and frustrate everyone, especially my family. My anxiety consumes me and I get so nervous when the ball comes to me that my heart starts racing. I don’t want to be the one to let everyone down. But I’ve been getting better at not being scared. I’ve been trying to believe in myself more and have been overcoming my fear. I put my thoughts aside and got up, brushed my teeth, put my contacts on, washed my face, and got my uniform on. I brushed my my hair, put it in a ponytail and got some gel to slick back my hair. The gel felt like slime as I slicked it back on my hair, and I put my bow on. I went to my room to get my sweatband and was debating on what color I should wear to match my uniform. I decided to bring both of my headbands and decide which one I should wear today on the ride over to the ballpark. I got my bag that I had packed yesterday, double checked that I had everything I

It was my first day of Grade 10, I didn’t want to go through being that new kid and having the thought of life being so complicated again but this time I had a reminder that if I went through it 6 years ago and turned out fine, I can do it again. It was very difficult at first because I had to spend lunch time alone and no one to talk to in class. I’m a very outgoing person and make friends easily or so I’ve been told, so after two weeks, I have made new friends. Two of the people I had made friends with Helen and Mika, were on the basketball team and I had told them I’ve always wanted to join basketball. They were begging me to join the team. The first day of tryout I didn’t want to go, I've never joined a sport before so I had this sick feeling that I wouldn’t make the cut, surprisingly I did. I was in grade 10 so I was in the junior team but we would always practice with the seniors because my coach wanted us to do really good for that season. On my first ever game, I went on the court with a lot of confidence and didn’t feel anxious at all. I shot two points at my first game and that made me feel so good about myself. I grew really close with my team and bonded really well with them. At the end of the season, we won all of our league games and the championship

Going into the start of the basketball season, I was ecstatic to finally bring the ball down the court as a varsity point guard, but my joy quickly turned to frustration when my role changed. I worked hard every single day in order to earn a position in that starting five; I put in extra effort before and during the season. After a few games, my hard work seemed to be insignificant because my playing time started to be cut. As time went on, I played on the court less and less until finally I didn’t play at all. Gretchen Wald, the power forward, received less playing time as well. We were both confused and frustrated. Despite the dissatisfaction, Gretchen encouraged me to continue to work hard and stay positive. She always kept a smile on my face during practice and games. Also, I would find notes in my locker from her that encouraged me to keep fighting through the difficult season. During games I would look at the other girls with jealousy because I longed to play the game I loved again, yet Gretchen still found ways to make me laugh throughout the game. Among the many people who have touched my life significantly, Gretchen Wald stands out. Although basketball season was filled with disappointments, I learned that friendships and a positive attitude can make a situation

An out-group I have encountered was a situation where I joined track my junior year. I went out for track my freshman year then decided to give it another try my junior year. At first I didn’t feel like I was part of the team because I wasn’t part of the in-group that had been out since they were freshman. It felt like I was starting all over again as a freshman. Now thankfully, I have begun to conform with the rest of them and enjoy it. Another situation at my school that I have encountered would be the wrestlers and the basketball teams. At school there is always that tension between the two teams because of who gets more support, or who is doing better. Often times when in an out-group, I don’t always feel comfortable because it’s not people

Still, I was mildly shocked that there was only one other senior girl waiting for the teacher to take our ID cards so we could join the class. The teacher was surprised too, but for immensely different reasons. Mr. “S” appeared stunned that senior girls would choose a class labeled “Competitive Team Sports” while there were still openings in the traditionally all-girls class. Instead of taking our cards, he warned the two of us that the class would be mainly boys and that we shouldn’t expect any special treatment. That made sense, but the speech continued, cautioning us that the boys would hit hard and that we shouldn’t cry when things got tough. That a teacher thought his class would make me cry rendered me speechless and I remained in a state of disbelief as Mr. “S” finally took our cards and told us we might be called down to discuss the matter further.

Starts In the morning I step out of my car and it is pitch dark and eerie quiet, it's early morning the day after a tragic football game and everyone is tired and anticipating the meet ahead. We all sat babbling with each other and feeling comfortable. When I heard the push, hum of the school bus arriving up the drive. Everyone is ready just to get on the bus to sleep. When on the bus I can't get to sleep because I'm sharing my seat with a girl and the bus driver doesn't stop talking. We show up at the meet and i'm waiting for the tent to be put up so I can lay my bag down. My shoulder was aching and the grass was scratching my leg. During the warm up I was thrilled because two male teammates decided to run with us. They both smelled magnificent.

Uncomfortable situations are not fun for anybody, but sometimes things are not what they seem. Last summer on an average Friday I was preparing myself for my big lacrosse tryout the following day. At the same time I was also preparing myself for the wide spread of personalities on the team, but listening to all the stereotypes and experience, I thought I knew what they would be like. I assumed I was walking into a tryout with a bunch of rich, snobby, arrogant cities boys, which knew daddy had money. As I drove the boring, simplistic hour and a half drive that’s all I could think about. I was concerned when I should have been excited. As I arrived at my grandparents, I settled myself down and prepared for bed, it was going to be an early morning and a long day.

In the winter of my junior year, my basketball team won the district tournament. It had been a season of ups and downs, but we peaked at the right moment. We later qualified for the state tournament. Collectively we felt that we could win the championship; the momentum was with us. Unfortunately, due to two uncharacteristically sloppy and draining games, we were eliminated. After our final game, we went back to the locker room in silence. Soon, the only audible sounds were the crying of all twelve girls. Twelve girls that gave everything to each other were now devastated that their time together was over. Twelve girls sat in a circle with their faces buried in their jerseys, broken and exhausted. In that moment as we sat and cried and reflected

I was not old enough to drive and would have my mom pick me up every day after school didn’t want to take too long since my mom didn’t like when I took too long. In order to try to stay on time, I took my shoes over to where they three of them were standing and started putting them on. From the looks on their faces, something wasn’t right and they didn’t utter a word until the last girl left the room. They then began to tell us that they do not want us to perform at the basketball game with the team because we were not ready. They believed we were “inconsistent with our routines” in practice and didn’t feel we would be ready for the game. Rachel proposed they would revisit the idea of us performing on Friday if we can get the second half of the dance down perfectly for the assembly but at the moment we were not going to be joining the team. When, they asked for us to stay back, I didn’t think they would deliver this kind of news to us. I tried my best to keep myself from breaking down even though I could feel my eyes burning from tears. I couldn’t speak a word and just nodded along with them. Before they let us go, Renee asked us our opinions on the situation. In my head, I wanted to tell them it wasn’t fair to pull two girls from the team performance. But all I could say was that it was okay and that i

I took a deep breath before the layout rapidly fell to the ground and the room became silent. All I could do is cry. It felt like crying was the only way I would feel pain. My heart sunk as everything in the room faded and my vision blurred. My parents, coach Wilson and Annabelle came rushing over as tears were stinging my eyes with pain. After about 5 minutes I heard sirens All I wanted was a redo at the

Five years later, the basketball team is looking better than ever with Ethan and I dominate the basketball league were in. As we proceed to the championship game Ethan and I’s friendship is stronger than every. Getting hyped, laughing at the most stupidest things, and even dancing during pregame. Thanks to amazing playing from Ethan and myself we end up winning the

I had walked onto the court inin too big shoes that squeaked on the floor. The shoes weren’t even mine, mine were at school, locked in the choir classroom where I had left them. All that uncomfort was just a memory to laugh at now. I remembered my humiliation when I messed up, and my anger boiling when I was subbed out d I remembered the hours

We all stayed in the auditorium practicing our breathing, doing our piece with emotion facing a wall, and just relaxing for the big night. I cried the whole afternoon, just thinking about everybody’s face when they found out that I was going to quit the team. I went to my coach and asked him if I could talk to him. When we stepped out of the auditorium, I told him how I felt and the fear that consumed me every time I thought about presenting my piece. He told me something that changed my way of thinking forever, he said “If you don’t face your fear tonight, it is okay, but you will miss out an opportunity that will change your life forever, and in the future, you will strongly regret your decision.” After he said those words he walked away and gave me some time to reflect upon the words that he had just told me. I sat down and thought about what was the right thing to do, and after an hour of reflection upon the possibilities, I finally decided, I was going to face my fear and present my