Basketball was one of those sports I never thought I could play. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. Before I knew it, I found myself at my first game. It was my junior year and my first time playing basketball. I went to try-outs, and to my surprise I made it on the team. That day many girls were called up to the coaches to have a one on one talk with them. When they called my name I got this shot of nervousness, I could feel my heart beating harder as I got closer to them. My coach was the one talking and he said, “We would be happy to have you on JV2. You are a fast girl and we see a lot of potential.” One thing he said really caught my attention; he told me that I needed to believe in myself, to have more confidence. At that moment, I realized that people could see that I wasn’t a confident person; I decided that I was going to improve as a person and a player.
When we started playing in games I found that I wanted to get better. I knew I wasn’t going to improve by being self-conscious; so I stepped up my game. I tried hard to change the way I thought of myself as being too short and not good enough; I was going to be the best basketball player I could be. When I started telling myself that I was good enough, I started believing it and after a while I didn’t have to tell myself, I just knew.
Basketball has impacted my life tremendously; I have realized that I can’t be scared to try new things because I think I’m going to fail. I know now that if I don’t try, I will never know whether or not I’m good at something. I’m still working on my confidence and maybe one day it will be through the roof. I’m not afraid to miss a shot, and let the team down because I know everyone makes mistakes. I’ve learned to prepare myself mentally and not let my feelings interfere with the way I play. It has also taught me how to work with others; basketball isn’t about getting your shot in, it’s about working together to succeed as a team. I feel like I’ve improved so much, not just as a player but as a person. Once I had confidence on the court, it started showing in my every day life. It was a great first experience that I will never forget.
LROD07