Art Williams said, “I'm not telling you it's going to be easy - I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.” This statement holds true to many events in life: basketball season sophomore year. With my ankle brace strapped tight under my basketball shoes, I walked into the gym. My chin held high, looking forward to the new season and coach. The team gathers to start practice. Only the season was tougher than expected for unbeknownst reasons. The new coach was less than enduring, with a jagged coaching experience of over 30 years. His hoarse, bodiless voice never uttered any praise greater than, “that wasn’t completely awful.” None of the team was ready for the strenuous, seemingly dismal year ahead. However, the ending to the season made all the calamities worthwhile.

Throughout the season any chance of winning games was far and few between. That was until our last league game of the season and second game against Aurora West. Who we lost to the first time 45 to 36. My team knew this game was an essential win if we wanted to go onto the district or state tournaments. Although we had been preparing for this game for about a week, the adrenalin, fear, and excitement still coursed through our veins. It was a seemingly close game until the last half were our team pulled ahead to win 38 to 27. This game gave the whole team a confidence boost and showed us that we could accomplish and win against other good teams. As well as it guaranteed us a spot of at least third in league.

Our true moment of glory came eight days later at the final game for districts against Aurora West. We had beat them before, but we had also lost to them prior to that. They were out for blood, but so were we. The first quarter gave us immense reassurance that we could win as we were up 13 to 3. The roar of the crowd, though lacking many fans, added to the adrenaline of the game. With sweat glistening faces and hearts hastily pounding out of our chest, the sharp buzzer sounds signifying our triumphant victory of 44 to 29. The feeling was surreal and it took time to fully grasp the excitement of all the events that took place in order for the Lady Warriors to become district champions.

 At the beginning of the year I, nor anyone, else would have ever guessed that the girls’ basketball team would gone as far as we did in the season. The team as a whole had many ups and downs throughout the season. I personally had ups and downs with many ankle injuries and bad days. One of the things that always kept me going and strong was my ankle brace. The hard plastic, encased in a rough fabric, laced up with elastic strings provided much needed support and strength to make it through many games. This is why I believe in my ankle brace, because anything that is worth doing isn’t going to be easy and will require strength and perseverance.Art Williams said, “I'm not telling you it's going to be easy - I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.” This statement holds true to many events in life: basketball season sophomore year. With my ankle brace strapped tight under my basketball shoes, I walked into the gym. My chin held high, looking forward to the new season and coach. The team gathers to start practice. Only the season was tougher than expected for unbeknownst reasons. The new coach was less than enduring, with a jagged coaching experience of over 30 years. His hoarse, bodiless voice never uttered any praise greater than, “that wasn’t completely awful.” None of the team was ready for the strenuous, seemingly dismal year ahead. However, the ending to the season made all the calamities worthwhile.

Throughout the season any chance of winning games was far and few between. That was until our last league game of the season and second game against Aurora West. Who we lost to the first time 45 to 36. My team knew this game was an essential win if we wanted to go onto the district or state tournaments. Although we had been preparing for this game for about a week, the adrenalin, fear, and excitement still coursed through our veins. It was a seemingly close game until the last half were our team pulled ahead to win 38 to 27. This game gave the whole team a confidence boost and showed us that we could accomplish and win against other good teams. As well as it guaranteed us a spot of at least third in league.

Our true moment of glory came eight days later at the final game for districts against Aurora West. We had beat them before, but we had also lost to them prior to that. They were out for blood, but so were we. The first quarter gave us immense reassurance that we could win as we were up 13 to 3. The roar of the crowd, though lacking many fans, added to the adrenaline of the game. With sweat glistening faces and hearts hastily pounding out of our chest, the sharp buzzer sounds signifying our triumphant victory of 44 to 29. The feeling was surreal and it took time to fully grasp the excitement of all the events that took place in order for the Lady Warriors to become district champions.
        

At the beginning of the year I, nor anyone, else would have ever guessed that the girls’ basketball team would gone as far as we did in the season. The team as a whole had many ups and downs throughout the season. I personally had ups and downs with many ankle injuries and bad days. One of the things that always kept me going and strong was my ankle brace. The hard plastic, encased in a rough fabric, laced up with elastic strings provided much needed support and strength to make it through many games. This is why I believe in my ankle brace, because anything that is worth doing isn’t going to be easy and will require strength and perseverance.