Basketball: High School and Communication Skills

Being part of the basketball clique in high school helped me learn the intrapersonal and social communication skills I use today. As a child playing basketball was my favorite activity or hobby. It's also the way I met a lot of my good friends that I have now. All my close friends I have met. I have met them through playing basketball. Whether they were on my team, the opposing team or just fans in the crowd who admired my play. Not only has basketball helped me gain friends, but basketball also taught me a lot about life. There are many aspects of life that coincide with basketball. For instance basketball is a team game and an individual game. Like in life you have to work together with other people. The communication skills I learned from basketball helped me communicate with friends, girlfriends, parents and bosses at work. I started playing basketball in the ninth grade. In the ninth grade I was a quiet and shy little boy. I rarely talked to my teammates and kept to myself. As the years went by I learned how to communicate with my teammates and my coaches and began to break out of my shell so to speak. In 11th grade I made the Long Island top 40 team. In the All-Star game I was named most valuable player scoring 15 points. AAU became a tremendous part of my life. I traveled to several states and began to train with one of the best trainers on Long Island, Jerry Powell. I started making more and more friends while playing AAU basketball. Basketball helped me meet a lot of new people. Without basketball in my life I don't know what I would do, growing up in a tough neighborhood in New York. My journey began in ninth grade. I remember my first day of basketball tryouts like it was yesterday. Fearful anxiety coursed through my blood stream as my pounding heart beat like a drum through my chest. Tireless sweat and preparation leading only to self doubt. I would not make it, I could not make it, and I had no right! I felt slow and unable to stand up my feeble body against these aggressive heathens called basketball players. One miss too many with every touch of the ball. My incompetents grew larger with every breath from my exhausted corpse. I believed in my defeat before I touched the floor. I had practiced basketball all day, every day, in the summer forcing my body to prepare for this day. That day was one of the greatest days of my life. I had finally been part of team and throughout my high school basketball career I finally realized what a team is supposed to be. A couple years later I made the Varsity team in 11th grade. I became a leader and a starter. I was known as a point guard. A true floor general as some people may say. I always put my team first. Teamwork was possibly the most valuable lesson I learned from basketball. Learning to work together with other individuals to achieve a common goal is a skill that I have used, and will continue to use, for the rest of my life. Entering high school, I was blessed enough to play basketball with some inspirational teammates. My teammates came from a variety of different backgrounds. In that team environment, working together every day in practice, I learned how to work efficiently and communicate effectively with a diverse group of people. These skills have helped me immensely in group projects for school and I know they will be very beneficial to me when I start my career. For me, basketball has helped me with many aspects of my life. Without the game of basketball, I believe I would be a completely different person. I encourage anyone looking for motivation in his or her life to give basketball a try, or any sport for that matter.