ESPN Wide World of Sports gym of 6 courts in Orlando was beginning to feel like a new home away from home. Almost every day of my 4 days in Florida has been spent here; whether I’m playing or watching other teams play basketball. I could already remember the distinct smell of the wood floors, the feeling of the special ESPN basketballs, and the aroma of freshly popped popcorn coming from the concession area. Our next game was the Elite 8 and the opponent was Mac Irvin Fire out of Chicago, but little did I know this game was not going to as planned.

***

As I board the plane to Florida it feels a little weird because this will be my first trip without my parents. However, this Florida vacation is not going to be like your typical spring break vacation with your family; this Florida trip is for the National Basketball Championship tournament. My teammates and I had played well all year, and were deserving of this opportunity. This was the tournament we had been waiting and working for the whole season. We also have added pressure to win because last year the 8th grade Ray Allen Select team won this tournament. All of these factors led to a lot of nerves going onto the plane to Florida. Our first game would be the next day.

Our first day of games is today, and I could feel the nervous vibe going around us players in the hotel before the commute to the game. The drive over on the spacious Disney shuttle was the same way, we all had our headphones in listening to our own music, the shuttle was as silent as a class during testing. The moment we walked into the gym all of a sudden we had our swag back. We walked through the place like we owned it. This attitude carried through the whole first day, beating the Big Shots from North Carolina, and the Crusaders from Georgia handily. The tournament was looking up, our team was running like a car, all different parts doing vitat jobs.

This trend carried through all of pool play. We finished our pool with a record of 4-1, losing our 1 game to Sean Kilpatrick Elite from New York. We weren’t worried though because it was a close game, and we knew we’d be seeing them again in the Final 4 if it worked out how we wanted. The next games from now on are single elimination, so it is lose or go home. These next games were what we’d been waiting for our whole life.

The Sweet 16 game was another win against the Rhode Island Magic, so our Elite 8 opponent was Mac Irvin Fire from Chicago. To win this game for us would mean a rematch against Sean Kilpatrick Elite. The game started off like any other game, we traded baskets with them for a while, but pulled away by 12 by the end of the first half. As my teammates and I walk back out onto the court for the beginning of the second half. We all high five each other and say “Let's Go.”

We had lost the tip in the first half so it was our ball. Our point guard Andrew dribbles the ball down the court. With each bounce I can hear the noise of the crowd growing. “WOOO!” Andrew passes to me on the left wing, and I proceed to take 2 dribbles and pull up for a shot. The shot felt silky smooth as it left my fingertips, but then when I landed the silky smooth feeling was gone. “AAAH,” I screamed. My left foot landed right on their point guards foot, rolling my ankle. My coach and the trainer trotted over as I sat on the ground, tears welling up in my eyes.

After I had gotten up and over to the bench the trainer took a look at my ankle doing the test of, “does it hurt here? What about here?” After the trainer had finished with my ankle he determined that it was just a bad and very swollen sprained ankle. I was told that I should sit out for 2-3 weeks. Those words, “2-3 weeks” crushed my shoulders like 1,000 boulders on them. There was no way I was sitting out the National Championship.

Now that we had beaten Mac Irvin we would have the much anticipated rematch against Sean Kilpatrick Elite. I decided to sit out  this game with the thought of resting my ankle one more day would heal it for the National Championship. It didn't.

My aggravating ankle was extremely stiff as I woke up the day of the National Championship. My ankle is tree bark, so stiff. As the morning goes on, my ankle starts to become less sore and more mobile. I had a sliver of hope to play in the National Championship. As we were on the shuttle to the gym there was that same nervous vibe, only this time it was 1 million times more nervousness. This time instead of walking with my team to our court I had to take a detour to get my ankle taped by the trainer. I had my mind set on playing.

I warmed up with my team, and I can tell it is clear to me and my coaches that I am not 100% healthy. As the game tipped off I was not on my regular spot playing on the court, instead I was sitting on the bench.

The halfs almost over, 2:00 minutes left on the clock, the court was calling my name out. “Emmett, come here, you ready to play?” Coach Chris asks.

“Yeah, put me in,” I respond. Walking onto the court felt amazing, but that’s where the amazing feeling ended. I got into my defensive stance to guard my player, and woosh, I got blown by. This was out of character for me, and I was pulled out the next play.

The final score of the National Championship was 59-54. After not playing in this excruciating loss I realized how much I need to value doing the things I love. I had travelled all the way to Florida to win the National Championship with my teammates, but my ankle stood in my way of doing that. It was a terrible way to end an amazing trip, but taught me an important lesson.