A story that people still talk about till this day. It all starts way back in 7th grade. It was a week before tryouts for the Junior Hawks, a Park Ridge travel feder league team. This was the time when everyone went to the community center to practice and play against one another to get ready for tryouts. I played travel basketball for the Park Ridge Junior Hawks since 1st grade, so it was 6 years running. I was feeling pretty confident in myself that I would make the team again, but I was not getting to cocky about it.

The morning of tryouts was a lot more nerve wracking than I thought. I was shaking on my way to school and wasn’t feeling my normal self. It was a really weird feeling for me. So, as the day went on with school, my nerves were calming down a little bit. As school ended, I went home and had a protein bar for snack. Tryouts weren’t until 7 o’clock that night. So I did some homework and listened to music through my headphones to get pumped for tryouts. I walked into the gym and no one was there. I was so embarrassed. I thought like I read the sheet wrong and that tryouts were on a different day, I had no idea what was going on. I went early to warm up, so I was loose for tryouts. It was the strangest thing ever. As I was about to walk out of the gym, I heard a door close. I was looking around didn’t see anything. All of a sudden, I started to hear basketballs hitting the ground. I was walking around and finally found the door. On the door, it said “ 7th grade basketball tryouts. 7-9.” I walked on in. As soon as I walked in, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked straight at me. My face was as red as a tomato. I had no idea what happened.

A coach came over to and asked what my name was “ What’s your name, bud?” I said, “Kevin C”. He looked on his list and was rolling through names and found that my name wasn’t highlighted. He highlighted my name and told me to put my shoes on and get out on the court.

I got into line and we were just doing layup lines. Take 2 dribbles from the 3 point line and do a layup on the left and right side, using your left and right hand. I was very good with my right hand because I am right handed. I thought I was pretty good with my left hand for not being a lefty. After layups we moved on to jump shots, which was my favorite! The reason it was my favorite is I was one of the better shooters in my grade and that would make me stand out more than anyone else, because mine would go in and theirs wouldn’t. I just loved shooting the basketball from anywhere on the court. As tryouts when on, we started to do more scrimmages and running plays to see what guys worked well together and which ones didn’t. As tryouts ended, we scrimmaged 5 on 5 full court, for the last 20 mins of the tryout. It was the best when we scrimmaged because I got to show the coaches who I really was. I was one of the kids that was called a shooting guard. Which is kinda ironic because, I am a great shooter. Only one kid could really guard me well and that was Michael Byron. He could shut me down like there was no tomorrow. When he didn’t guard, I looked like Michael Jordan out there. It was the best running down the court, dribbling the ball and pulling up for three and swishing it right in the players face. It was the best when I would see their facial reactions or when they would say something.

“God is Kevin so good at shooting, I had my hand right in his face.” a kid said. I said back “ If someone would want to guard me, it would be a challenge than.”

Meaning that, the kid was bad at defense. Which I shouldn’t really be saying because defense was not my strongest suit either. Tryouts ended after that. Tryouts were 2 days long. That Thursday night and Saturday morning. Saturday after tryouts was when we found out who made the “A” team and who made the “B” team. It was a little nerve wrecking thinking about that but it was okay.

So Saturday morning comes around and I am eating breakfast. I had a banana with peanut butter and a glass of milk. Tryouts were at 10am that day. I was listening to music with my headphones, as my dad drove me to tryouts. I walked into the gym this time, knowing where to go. I kinda giggled at myself, for how embarrassing that was Thursday Night. Tryouts on Saturday were the exact same from Thursday. We did layup lines and jump shots. We did drills and scrimmaged. This time we scrimmaged for the last 30 minutes of tryouts. I was feeling pretty good about making the team, because I kept making my jump shots and I thought was playing pretty good defense for me. I was getting few steals here and there.    When coach blew that whistle he yelled
“Tryouts are now over. Please take your seat and we will list off the names of who made what team.” Names go by “ Connor B…. Patchy O.…. Kevin M…. Andy P….  and lastly Henry H.” My named didn’t get called. I was shocked. I was mind boggled. I was stunned. I didn’t know what to do, I just sat there and stared at the ground. After everyone left, I went over to the coaches to ask if the read over my name accidentally. They didn’t. I was so sad.

I was on the team for 6 years in a row, what went wrong. The coaches knew who I was and everything. It was so strange to me. I go to the car and started crying. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t know what to do.

That night, I was getting all these texts from people saying, “ Sorry. That sucks.” I was also getting texts that said, “ Oh that is embarrassing, how didn’t you make it.”

That next morning when I came to school, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know how people were going to act towards me and I didn’t know if people were going to say anything, if anything. I just kept my head down and walked to my classes. I was so embarrassed, I didn’t wanna talk about basketball to anyone.

Now, came the decision if I was done with basketball or if I would tryout for another team and not play Park Ridge for a year. So I had a decision to make with my parents. We came to an agreement that I would play basketball for another program called “Full Package” out of Highland Park Deerfield area. So I had one day of tryouts for 1 hour, with the 7th grade coach.

So, I thought to myself and said “ Let’s do this, I am not gonna skip out on a year of basketball.”

I gave it my all for that hour. I never played that hard of basketball in my life. The evaluator talked to me afterwards and said, “ Congratulations, you made the “A” team.” I was shocked. I was so happy, I gave the evaluator a hug. I was so happy. I made the “A” team for this program, I never even heard of before. There was 3 teams for the 7th graders. A,B, and C. I made the top 7th grade team. I guess I made the right decision not to quit basketball and to continue playing the sport I love. This Full Package team I was on probably made the basketball player, I am today. We won 3 tournaments that year. I was scoring more points than I ever did. I was averaging probably 20 points a game and making 4-5 3’s a game. One game I will never forget was, a championship game in Deerfield, at the Joy of The Game complex. This championship game was huge. I scored 41 points that game. I had 10 three’s that game. I shot 10-12 from the 3 point line. I was 10-10 from the free throw line and had an and one. It was probably the best game of my basketball career. It was just amazing, on how we won the championship and I played my best game ever. I won 3 championships that season. It was amazing. I didn’t think once about Junior Hawks playing basketball with my friends because I made new friends on this team.

So, I made the decision on my own that I would tryout 8th grade for Junior Hawks. I was determined to prove the coaches and the players wrong that I belong in this program. Not on the “B” team, but starting on the “A” team. I was determined to destroy my opponent, whoever it was. If Michael Byron guarded my, I was not going to let him win. I was going to do a few pump fakes and and dribble by and score a layup. Tryouts that year was I gave it my all. I was so determined to make the team.

Tryouts were again 2 days again. This time I wasn’t going to let anyone stop me. I was going to be the best guy out there. I felt very confident this time during tryouts because I had nothing to lose. I didn’t make the team last year, so I had nothing to lose. Tryouts were the exact same. Doing layup lines, jump shots, scrimmages, and running plays. Making the 8th grade team was a big deal for me, because it was to show the coaches I am not gonna quit and nothing will bring me down. I couldn’t wait for the coaches to list the names off of who made the team and who didn't make it. When they announced the names, I got a little nervous to be honest. I was thinking don’t have this happen to me again. I didn’t wanna have the embarrassment again of not making the team.
The coach stood up in front of us and started listing the names, “ Bobby I, Ryan K, Joe D, Dan C, Henry H,Michael B…. Kevin C.” I literally jumped in the air. I was screaming words of joy. I looked around and everyone started at me like what are you doing. I was embarrassed that I did that, but I made the “A” team. I accomplished my goal. I didn’t let last year get to me and screw with my head.

Moral of the story, don’t give up on your dreams. Even if it’s the smallest thing, don’t give up on it. When you achieve that goal, you feel so much better about yourself and in life. You are in such a happier mood and a happy person. I was embarrassed when I didn’t make it in 7th grade, but I used that anger and embarrassment to my advantage. I used that to make myself a better basketball player and person. I am so happy I made that decision not to quit basketball after not making the team in 7th grade.