Basketball

Basketball may just be a sport, but it is a life changing sport. It can change your decisions, your life, and you as a person. I know this because basketball changed me, and my perspective on life. It does take a lot of practice, but one you learn how to play it can become a life changing hobby.

As a kid growing up I wasn’t growing up around the best influences. I was headed down the wrong road, but I got into sports. I started playing sports on my own; no one helped me. My dad was in prison all the time, and still is today. I give the most credit to my mom. She used to do bad stuff to but she changed, and has done a great job raising me. I told her when I was in third grade I wanted to play basketball, and she paid for me to play and went to all my games. That year I was playing for fun. Then my fourth grade year was a big year for me. My mom got a new boyfriend who I now consider a father figure. They paid for me to play in fourth grade. I got a little better, but I was still playing for fun. My fifth grade year I moved to a new school and I was nervous, but I still played basketball and I had a blast. I was getting better and I started realizing how much I love basketball. Then my sixth grade, basketball changed my life.

It was middle school that I started playing serious and working hard. I started seeing changes in myself. I was hanging out with more and new friends that had a good influence on me. I was making good decisions, and no longer doing anything stupid, but this was all because of basketball. If you want to play basketball in middle and high school you have to get good grades, so I made sure I had good grades. I was turning in all my work, so I knew I could play basketball. In sixth grade basketball was fun but I didn’t like the way it was set up. We had four weeks of practice then one jamboree at the end, then it was over. That’s okay though because my team went four and zero, and we had a blast. Seventh and eighth grade was going to be a tough challenge for me.

In seventh and eighth grade there was no more slacking. I had to be the best I could be because now there was A team, B team and C team. A team was for the good players and C team was for the kids that weren’t so great. In tryouts I was nervous, but I was ready. I played well in tryouts; now it was time to see if all my hard work paid off. The coach was announcing the A team, and I was sitting there with my fingers crossed hoping he would call my name. He called like seven names. I was getting nervous, but guess what! He called my name. I felt so happy and accomplished. It was time to start the season. We won our first game by a lot; I felt so good. We ended up going five and five. We made districts; we were playing Kuna Middle School in the first round. We ended up losing, it wasn’t fun but we just have to work hard for next year and see what happens. My 8th grade year I wasn’t that nervous on making A team because it was the same coach. He did put me on A team. Now I was looking forward to having a better season. We won our first game again this year, but we also went five and five. We made districts again and we were playing Bishop Kelly. We ended up losing. I was disappointed, but now my friends talked me into playing in a league called AAU. We felt like we could do something good. The first week we were two and zero. The next week we were four and zero. We didn’t get really excited, but the next week we found ourselves at six and zero. We felt like no one was going to stop us and we were going to win the championship. Maybe we were right because the next week we were eight and zero. We had only two games left to decide if we were going to be undefeated. We won the first one. The second one was close but we did end up winning and finished undefeated. Now it was time for playoffs. Our first game was easy, our second game not so much. We went into overtime and two of our best players fouled out, but we didn’t panic so we played are game, and we found ourselves playing in the championship versus Meridian. I was nervous, but ready at the same time. In the first quarter we didn’t play so well; we were losing by like ten points. Were we going to lose because at the end of the second quarter we were losing by twenty. It didn’t get much better. At the end of the third we were losing by eighteen. Well, the fourth quarter got interesting. There were two minutes left and we were down by ten. We had a chance still, and then with one minute left we were down by four. We were so close, we fought back, so we were going to make sure we won, and guess what? When the buzzer sounded we came out on top. We stormed the court. We were so happy! After that I looked back on my life and I’m thankful for what the game of basketball has done to my life.

Basketball can do a lot to your life. I was headed down the wrong road, but basketball put me down the right road. I am now getting good grades, making the right decisions, and hanging out with people who also make the right decisions. If you practice and start becoming good basketball is more than just a sport, it is a life changing sport!