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Why Is Basketball Important To Me Today

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There is a significant difference between loving to play the game of basketball and loving the game of basketball. Don’t get me wrong, I live for the rush you get after winning a hard fought game, but true love for the game goes well beyond the court. As my unavoidable final year in high school begins, it is hard to not look back on my basketball journey and see how my love for the game, and all that I have learned from it, is what makes me who I am today.
Basketball has been apart of my life for as long as I remember. At a young age, coaches began to pound the importance of hard work into my head more than they forced me to pound the actual ball. They made sure that my teammates and I knew if we wanted to be the best we would have to put …show more content…

I was named captain of the freshman A team, which in my world was a huge deal, and I learned that being a good leader takes as much hard work as being good skillwise. Sure, I could've taken every shot or dribbled up the court every time, but I quickly learned that leadership was constantly doing what is best for the team. Despite the fact that I was only a freshman, this was the first situation that presented a leadership role to me, so it was a great character building stage. As a sophomore, I was moved up to the varsity team and quickly had to adapt to my new circumstances. Coming from my job as a starter and a leader the year before, it was hard for me when I found out that my role on this team did not include either. Before this I had not experienced any real basketball challenge; I always worked really hard which conveniently was enough to land me a nice spot on every team. With the help of my teammates, who became my second family, I was able to keep a good mentality and eventually become a starter on me team. Although this may not seem like a huge deal, it taught me that I could reach my goals if I attacked them with a positive attitude and genuinely worked as hard as I could.
Twelve years of playing basketball, have flown by and there is no denying the fact that I am soon going to be playing my last game. As my career comes to an end, I can absolutely say that basketball is beyond the 32 minutes on the court.

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