As a fifth grader I was not the most athletic kid. I was short and chubby, winded at even the sight of people running. I was a very shy and timid child, my mom would always tell me I was a good kid but in reality I was just afraid of what would happen to me if I broke the rules. My mom sort of pushed me into participating in a sport, and the sport she chose was basketball. “If you don’t like it you can always back out.” She always said with a smile. I knew this wasn’t a true statement.
I’ve had many coaches throughout the years that have been extremely inspirational and through those experiences with those coaches I learned a lot about myself. I later learned after sticking with it I would learn valuable lessons through basketball that I could not only use on the court but also off of it. In my first years of playing the game of basketball I had a coach named Buzz. Everyone on our team of 5th through 7th graders was terrified of him. Coach Buzz was over six feet, probably weighed solid two hundred pounds, a burley mustache attached to one of the meanest faces you would ever see, and had biceps the size of some of our heads. He would often yell at us to run faster and harder during conditioning drills; in fact he would scream so much you could practically see the steam shooting out of his ears. During these torturous running drills my slow moving un-athletic body would always come in last, and Coach Buzz would always get on my case and tell me that I needed to run harder. In last place as usual, he would yell to me “GO, GO, GO!!!” As I was running I would think to myself “Coach… I am physically running as hard as I can.” The older kids would make fun of me as I crossed the base line 5 minutes after everyone else did. In my first year of playing basketball, I often asked myself “Kids do this for fun? How, in any way, is this fun?” I felt so helpless like I was trying to reach the cookie jar but just wasn’t tall enough to reach. But if there is one thing that Coach Buzz taught me is resilience. At one point I remember at the end of practice we would scrimmage as a “fun” thing to do. I hated every second of it. One day during one of the scrimmages I got the ball right under the hoop. As soon as the ball entered my hands I started to panic. I immediately turned around like I was supposed to and frantically shot the ball up to the hoop. I was so focused on getting rid of the ball I didn’t see one of my teammates leaping beside me. He came flying so fast it reminded me of The Flash. The next thing I know I hear a smack the ball goes flying in the opposite direction and I was on the cold hardwood floor. No one helped me up, they just giggled. Even after that heart-breaking fall, I stuck with basketball and tried my hardest to get better at it. I refused to let those kids make me quit something I was starting to enjoy. Even though being the worst player to ever step onto a basketball court, I stuck with it.
There would be many times in practice where I would run up for a layup hit the bottom of the rim the ball would then zing right back down to where came from, straight into my face. I went through some good coaches, but the best coach I ever had was my final one before I was too old to play for this certain league. Coach Steve was an older guy. He was short and had a bad knee but still would find ways to play pickup with us. He had a fantastic mustache, he had short gray hair, and his wisdom of the game of basketball was that of the mighty Gandalf. He taught me many lessons of leadership, and made me feel like I was important to the team. When he made us run I saw those chubby fifth graders who were making their first start as basketball players, I saw myself in them and I thought back to that time of my life. Instead of making these young ones feel bad about themselves, I supported my teammates. When I would block one of my teammates shot and see him hit the floor looking discouraged I would say, “Keep your head up. Don’t panic pay attention to who is around you. You’ll get the hang of it.” Coach Steve taught me and showed me how to lead these kids into a game.
I would sometimes gather my teammates in a huddle at the beginning of games when we were down by a lot, and let them know that we can over come the situation and I led the charge. I would huddle them up just like Coach Steve would at practice and tell them even though we are down we are not out. We can still fight our hardest. We can still have fun in this game even though they are whooping us. Coach Steve molded me not only to be a better player but also be a better person. I would even use these lesson in real life situations, like seeing a friend down on his luck and just huddling up next to him to tell him that things will get better, telling him that he can come back from his deficit. His lessons not only applied to what happened on the court but also off of it.
Using the life lessons I learned in basketball has taught me to be an includer. As a kid getting into basketball was hard. A lot of my older teammates were mean to me. But I am almost thankful for it. I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I wouldn’t have done what I did when I saw my friend upset sitting in the corner. He was having a rough day. I simply went up to him to ask him how he was doing. He was in trouble with his parents and he wasn’t doing well in Mr. Kautzmans class. I told him that I was struggling in Mr. Kautzmans class too. I told him probably everyone is struggling in his class. I said I get in trouble with my mom all the time! It’ll pass eventually. I told him to keep his head up and try not to worry too much about it. He smiled and we then proceeded to walk to class. Things like that is what I learned from my basketball experience. It taught me to be a better person and I will always appreciate the time I spent on the court.
I’ve had many coaches throughout the years that have been extremely inspirational and through those experiences with those coaches I learned a lot about myself. I later learned after sticking with it I would learn valuable lessons through basketball that I could not only use on the court but also off of it. In my first years of playing the game of basketball I had a coach named Buzz. Everyone on our team of 5th through 7th graders was terrified of him. Coach Buzz was over six feet, probably weighed solid two hundred pounds, a burley mustache attached to one of the meanest faces you would ever see, and had biceps the size of some of our heads. He would often yell at us to run faster and harder during conditioning drills; in fact he would scream so much you could practically see the steam shooting out of his ears. During these torturous running drills my slow moving un-athletic body would always come in last, and Coach Buzz would always get on my case and tell me that I needed to run harder. In last place as usual, he would yell to me “GO, GO, GO!!!” As I was running I would think to myself “Coach… I am physically running as hard as I can.” The older kids would make fun of me as I crossed the base line 5 minutes after everyone else did. In my first year of playing basketball, I often asked myself “Kids do this for fun? How, in any way, is this fun?” I felt so helpless like I was trying to reach the cookie jar but just wasn’t tall enough to reach. But if there is one thing that Coach Buzz taught me is resilience. At one point I remember at the end of practice we would scrimmage as a “fun” thing to do. I hated every second of it. One day during one of the scrimmages I got the ball right under the hoop. As soon as the ball entered my hands I started to panic. I immediately turned around like I was supposed to and frantically shot the ball up to the hoop. I was so focused on getting rid of the ball I didn’t see one of my teammates leaping beside me. He came flying so fast it reminded me of The Flash. The next thing I know I hear a smack the ball goes flying in the opposite direction and I was on the cold hardwood floor. No one helped me up, they just giggled. Even after that heart-breaking fall, I stuck with basketball and tried my hardest to get better at it. I refused to let those kids make me quit something I was starting to enjoy. Even though being the worst player to ever step onto a basketball court, I stuck with it.
There would be many times in practice where I would run up for a layup hit the bottom of the rim the ball would then zing right back down to where came from, straight into my face. I went through some good coaches, but the best coach I ever had was my final one before I was too old to play for this certain league. Coach Steve was an older guy. He was short and had a bad knee but still would find ways to play pickup with us. He had a fantastic mustache, he had short gray hair, and his wisdom of the game of basketball was that of the mighty Gandalf. He taught me many lessons of leadership, and made me feel like I was important to the team. When he made us run I saw those chubby fifth graders who were making their first start as basketball players, I saw myself in them and I thought back to that time of my life. Instead of making these young ones feel bad about themselves, I supported my teammates. When I would block one of my teammates shot and see him hit the floor looking discouraged I would say, “Keep your head up. Don’t panic pay attention to who is around you. You’ll get the hang of it.” Coach Steve taught me and showed me how to lead these kids into a game.
I would sometimes gather my teammates in a huddle at the beginning of games when we were down by a lot, and let them know that we can over come the situation and I led the charge. I would huddle them up just like Coach Steve would at practice and tell them even though we are down we are not out. We can still fight our hardest. We can still have fun in this game even though they are whooping us. Coach Steve molded me not only to be a better player but also be a better person. I would even use these lesson in real life situations, like seeing a friend down on his luck and just huddling up next to him to tell him that things will get better, telling him that he can come back from his deficit. His lessons not only applied to what happened on the court but also off of it.
Using the life lessons I learned in basketball has taught me to be an includer. As a kid getting into basketball was hard. A lot of my older teammates were mean to me. But I am almost thankful for it. I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I wouldn’t have done what I did when I saw my friend upset sitting in the corner. He was having a rough day. I simply went up to him to ask him how he was doing. He was in trouble with his parents and he wasn’t doing well in Mr. Kautzmans class. I told him that I was struggling in Mr. Kautzmans class too. I told him probably everyone is struggling in his class. I said I get in trouble with my mom all the time! It’ll pass eventually. I told him to keep his head up and try not to worry too much about it. He smiled and we then proceeded to walk to class. Things like that is what I learned from my basketball experience. It taught me to be a better person and I will always appreciate the time I spent on the court.