By Destiny
When I was younger I wasn’t really the sports type of person. However, after 2 years of my step-dad encouraging me to play basketball I finally gave in. The first year he wanted me to play, I said no. That time my excuse was I didn’t like to sweat. Once I hit 7th grade, though, I gave it a try.
My first practice was interesting. I didn’t know how to dribble a ball, pass the ball, or even make a shot correctly. It was also a lot of fun because my teammates and I were all bonding; It was a fun and comfortable environment. My first coach was awesome, he was very helpful and was known to be a great coach. After 7th grade, though, it all went downhill as far as the coaching staff. All the coaches I had after 7th grade weren’t the best. One coach had anger problems, another coach had a yelling problem, and the other didn’t have the best hygiene.
During my 8th grade year, I had the coach with anger problems and in one game one of the players upset him and he cussed at her in front of everyone. It was scary and I didn’t know what to do but listen to him so I didn’t get yelled at, too. Even though he was upset at her, he was still my coach and I had to respect him. Another bad moment I had was when I was a sophomore playing for the Pirates. The favoritism, anger, yelling, and picking on me pushed me over the edge and the frustration caused me to quit.
According to Skyline Soccer, there is a 33% chance a student will re-enter a sport after quitting. I did quit the sport for a season but I joined again the next year because I missed playing in the games and the competitiveness.
Throughout my 5 years of playing basketball, I’ve experienced good, bad, sad, and stressful moments but it was all worth it. All of those moments were times for me to learn from and improve. Basketball is a great game to build chemistry with your teammates since you will be playing in a game with them, you need some type of trust. Basketball teaches you to be a great teammate, coworker, peer, and family member. I love the adrenaline rush and plays that happen in every game you play. That is why I decided to go back to playing basketball this coming year. It’s time to give the pirates another shot.