Preview

How Basketball Changed My Life

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
876 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Basketball Changed My Life
Since the 2nd grade I have been in love with the game of basketball. My love for the game, along as myself as a person, has grown and gone through a lot of change since my first time touching a basketball over ten years ago. Basketball in my life has possibly changed more in the past year than the rest of my life combined, which has allowed me to learn more about myself, both on and off the court. All my life I have excelled at 2 sports, basketball and soccer. I have always put basketball on a pedestal above soccer, both because of my talent for the sport, and because I enjoyed playing it more. I never truly realized the potential I had until 9th grade, I loved my coach and my coach seemed to really believe in me as a player and a person. He seemed to think the sky was the limit for me, and he had me believing in myself as well. Before I knew it the season had flown by, and I had led my team scoring that year, as a freshman! My dream of playing college basketball had never been stronger and I had the determination to make that dream come true. After my school season ended I didn't have any time to breathe before travel ball started. I made the team I had been hoping to make which filled me with loads excitement. My next few months of …show more content…
I had a great junior basketball season and still felt very confident in myself as a basketball player. The time came for me to tryout for my spring, travel basketball team and my worst nightmare came true. I didn't make team i had played on for 6 years straight. Soon after, my school basketball coach, who had become a mentor and father figure to me over the past three years, decided to take another coaching job at a different school. My heart was broken and I decided the time had come to get serious on what place basketball truly has in my

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Basketball and baseball are the greatest things to ever happen to me. There is not one day where I do not enjoy shooting hoops or hitting home runs. People always say that I should be playing baseball because of how fit and athletic I am, so I tried it out, and it turned out I was pretty good. For basketball it was a different story. People have said that I was way too short, but my first game I scored about twenty points and everyone kept quiet.…

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, playing sports is one of my favorite things to do. They teach me discipline and I must do and Not do what coach says. Sports also teach me good sportsmanship. I learn to love the game by playing my opponent/friends and showing how to take a win or loss. Last year playing basketball we didn’t lose but one game, I was devastated. I like to think I took the Loss ok but I just blamed it all on myself. I got to show my winning spirts in a ton of games that season, and I think I showed my happiness well. Our team didn’t brag or show off we simply just played our game, and the results turned out as they may.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Baseball may seem like a game where individuals remain around and sit tight for a ball to be hit, yet that is not what baseball truly is. To me, this game has changed the way I see life all in all. Each player has been taught to have great hard working attitude, regardless of whether it's in a weight room or even practices. Coaches have given leadership chances to players every year and this year it's my turn due to my hard working attitude and my capacity to lead a team. I didn't turn into the individual I am by simply sitting around. If not for baseball, I wouldn't have that additional push individuals need to succeed. Everything began off sophomore year during baseball season. It was about mid-path through…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Growing up, I was never naturally athletic and very injury prone. Regardless of these issues, I always remained determined and strived to accomplish my goals. As I enter high school one of my main goals was to make the varsity tennis team. During my freshmen year I practiced every day for the first 3 months of school hoping that I could just make the team. Unfortunately I tore a ligament in my wrist for the second time which prevented me from practicing till right before the tennis season started. I ended barely making the JV team which was very disappointing, but it only motivated me for next year. In my heart I knew that I if I was determined enough I could play varsity next year on my own merit. As I progressed through the sophomore year,…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I had to deal with disappointment from teammates, coaches, parents, and, above all, myself. On the first day of tryouts my freshman year of highschool, I was kindly hypothesized to possess “potential”. I was horrified. Potential was the label given to those who stood on the brink of mediocrity; those who walked the terribly broad line of “nothing special.” I was painfully average. After being praised for my talents throughout the course of my entire soccer career, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment upon hearing the mortifying pronouncement of my amateurity. I didn’t know it at the time, but my coach did me a huge favor with his frankness. I realized that not everything in life would be handed to me on a silver platter. In fact, most of it would not. I had to prove myself worthy, not only to my coach, but to myself as well. Through my extra workout and practice sessions, I developed determination and a tireless work ethic that I apply to every facet of my life. I’ve learned how to take criticism and losses and transfigure them into improvements and…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One extremely important activity outside of the classroom that has helped me grow as an individual is Church League basketball at my local YMCA. From the outside looking in this league seems to be a form of glorified pick-up basketball with referees and a scoreboard but there is so much more to it. Almost half way through my junior year my father convinced me to try out for the varsity basketball team at school in November to which I hesitated at first but later gave in and tried out only to be cut. At first I was upset because I had never been cut from a team and I was unsure of how to handle it and what to do with my free time. This prompted me to reach out to God and ask him for a sense of direction and purpose in this time of my life to which He responded with a friend inviting me to Church League basketball. Once I experienced a few scrimmages and practices I decided to commit to playing Church League and coming to all of the…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Obstacles In Volleyball

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages

    My family did not let me renounce my dream, and they helped me prepare for the next year’s tryouts by driving me to club tryouts, countless lessons, and intramurals. Daily, my brothers and I would practice in our backyard just tossing the ball around. Every day, I would improve, serve the ball further, and my confidence would grow. My dad encouraged me to attempt to play for club teams, and even if I didn’t earn a spot on the team, at least I would gain practice and experience. I tried out for four club teams, and I didn’t earn a spot on any of them, but I believed my skills were improving. By chance, I found one club was having their tryouts much later than all the others, and when I showed up, I was the only one there. They asked me to play for them, and I agreed, but they resulted to be private lessons. Every Monday, I would practice for a couple of hours with a student coach. Occasionally, I would play scrimmages for other teams. Most importantly, I enjoyed those weekly practices. In the final weeks, leading up to the school tryouts, I attended a variety of intramurals and camps. I enjoyed playing with other girls, and I enjoyed the sport. Even though I was usually the weakest player, I enjoyed playing the sport more than winning. When the time came, I was confident in my abilities and prepared to earn a spot on the…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    My heart won’t stop racing, I don’t know why and, My eyesight starting to fade away slowly like I had glaucoma. All the surrounding noise around me by the crowd had me going deaf, then I started to sweat from all the pressure around me like a morning workout. I was zoning out of nowhere, and then I started to realize I was nervous as heck. The crowd started to go wild when the announcers started to announce the starting five for each team. That’s the pressure I get every game I played that year of my freshmen year in my high school basketball games. I loved playing freshman basketball because the road trips we went to together. the thrill you get out of the games we played and lastly the team was like a family to me.…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When summer came I got plenty of scholarship offers from colleges, however a good portion of them just wanted me for my football ability and had horrible learning programs so I instantly threw those away. I finally decided on one and applied to that college. They accepted me and I enrolled. I went to college and played football and did great, but I still had the other half of college to worry about. I wasn't going to think I was going to get to be a pro no matter what so I studied hard to become a Civil engineer. After three years I had the opportunity to become a pro and I accepted it. After spending two years in the minors I got called up. When my first game with the Green Bay Packers came I was nervous, wondering what it would be like. I was a defensive end and I was very good at that position and had learned a lot in the minors but nevertheless I was worried. The game started and the my team lost the toss. Our kicker kicked the ball and the receiver came to my end of the field and him and I were facing each other and all of a sudden I tripped over myself and the Detroit Lions scored a…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Soccer Changed My Life

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages

    My parents moved from Nigeria to Canada, where they had four children. Being the oldest, I have always tried to play the role of a protector and adviser, which is fulfilling when I see them feel comfortable when I'm around. At the age of five, my parents introduced me to the game of soccer, a game I have been intimately involved till now. This sport, being a team activity, helped shape my personality and character. A character in believing that working hard to contribute to a team effort is vital to the success of a club and that losing or winning a game is not the most important thing, rather learning and improving from it.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As a four sport athlete (football, hockey, baseball, and track), I have endured my ups and downs with sports teams, but nothing compares to the adversity, leadership, and courage I had to muster up in the 2015 football season. The 2015 season looked bright for the hilltoppers, coming off three successful seasons, where I started and helped our football team win many games. I was a co-captain my Junior year and all-conference, so I was really looking forward to taking the reigns and becoming the true leader of our football team. However, the season was a disaster on paper at best. We went 0-9 and competed at a high level in 3 of those games. The day of our fourth football game, only 30 minutes prior to getting on the bus, my stomach started…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Between 4th and 5th grade I joined a basketball team. I was in tryouts but I didn’t think I did so well. I ended up making the team though. Practices after practices, my first game took place.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many things that happen throughout a persons life but it is how one overcomes it and does with it. There were some hard times where I just felt like giving up but knowing what people have done for me made me realize that I could not stop but I had to continue with my task and keep moving forward. There are many things in my life in which I enjoy doing. Playing soccer is one of my favorite things to do while I am not doing school work.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout high school, my life has been consumed by sports. Being a student athlete has made me become the person I am today. Ever since I was sixteen, I have also worked at a daycare in town, TASK. This has showed me how much little kids look up to student athletes. Working at TASK has also showed me how much these little kids want to grow up and be like us student athletes. Without sports and working at the daycare, I would not be the role model I am today. Since working at the daycare, I have realized I want to be the person little girls are talking about when they say, “I want to grow up and be just like her.” Being chosen team captain has made me into the leader I am. I have learned how to push my teammates…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tryout Reflection

    • 80 Words
    • 1 Page

    When I was in the seventh grade, I tried out for my school’s volleyball team. Leading up to the tryouts I had gone to multiple different camps and had been on two different travel teams. I thought I had a pretty good chance to make the team, but it turns out that I didn't. When I found out I was devastated, I cried for hours wondering why I didn't make the team after I put so much work into it.…

    • 80 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays