Now you're ten years old, and you're starting to get the hang of the game. You can now do a proper layup and get the ball to the rim, and it goes in sometimes. You're moving from three on three to five on five, and it's the best thing ever. Basketball is still for fun. You love it so much and still faithfully attend varsity girls basketball games and imagine how amazing it must be to play at that level. You continue to work on your game, and keep the dream of playing high school basketball in the back of your mind. You are also starting to make solid relationships with the girls you play with.
At thirteen, you play on your first school team. Your jersey has the same mascot or school name as the older kids now. The game becomes faster, and everyone is getting better. You have so much fun playing with the girls you've now been with for a few years, and you're sure you'll all play as seniors together. The game is still for fun, and you play because you enjoy it. Your competitive nature is allowed to be free as you dive for loose balls and get the first of many black and blue knees. It's worth it though, it's all for the love of the game.
At some point you're going to question if this is all worth it. The late nights and early mornings spent getting stronger or faster, the extra lines to make yourself more tired to shoot foul shots so you know you can make them when you're tired in a game. If it doesn't make the fire in your soul burn deep and powerful, then maybe it's not for you, but if it does, pursue it and don't let the fire die.
Now you're in grade 10, and high school basketball tryouts prove tougher than you thought. There will be two teams, varsity and junior varsity. Some of your friends you've played with for five years didn't even come to tryouts, and some got cut, but you made it. All your hard work helped you, and you start to work hard, to give your team the best shot at win i g and you enjoy the new experience and the new pace of basketball. The games become more intense and the crowds become larger. Coaches from your younger days stop to talk to you in the store, and only then do you realize the impact they've had not only on your game, but on your life. You love everything about high school basketball and the thrill of it all.
Somewhere along this journey, you're going to have coaches and you're going to have critics. Coaches will help you, and push you, even if they don't necessarily have the title. They are still there to remind you to keep your elbow in or to shoot the ball and quit pushing it. Critics are going to tell you you aren't strong enough, fast enough, quick enough, smart enough, tall enough, or athletic enough. Don't let this cause a detour in your progression. Push through it. It's all about determination and discipline. You are enough, if you decide to let yourself be.
Grade 11 rolls around, and now you're playing varsity basketball. Everything you've dreamed about for the last ten years is now a reality, and it's hard. It's hard to balance school, sleep, and practice every day, let alone a social life. That goes out the window for five months. The court doesn't become just a place to play basketball. It becomes a stress reliever, a place you can be yourself. Your teammates don't expect you to keep your "everything is fine all the time" mask on. They get it. It's physically and emotionally draining and sometimes it takes every last ounce of courage you have to finish the last set of lines for the day. But then you prove to yourself you can do it. You can do whatever you need to even when it gets hard and that is important to always remember. Games come down to a few foul shots in front of a huge crowd. The whole town knows the outcome of your tournament before you even get home. Everyone has high expectations for you, including yourself and your teammates. Losses are heartbreaking, wins give you confidence you forgot you had. You become so attached to the girls on your team, and then you play the last game of the season. It's bound to happen, you knew it would all along. A prayer by your captain ends the season, and no one wants to walk out of the locker room after, because then reality sets in. It's over. The seniors you became best friends with are leaving, and you cant keep the tears contained anymore because you can't imagine playing without them. Before you know it, you give them a hug as you pull away from the hotel. That chapter of their life is over, and you have to okay without them next year.
So, this is the part I'm supposed to tell you it's not scary. I'm not going to do that, because I'm not going to lie to you. It is scary. But, fear is natural, fear is good, it just means you are about to face something of importance and you can do it. It is scary, it's scary to know an injurie could end your career. It's scary to know you won't ever play with those ten girls again. It's scary to think what will happen in the next five years. It's a good scary, but that doesn't make it easy by any means.
Heading into my senior season next November, I have a few things to say. It's all worth it. The relationships with these girls will last a very long time and that's the most important thing. I am asking you to stop and take a minute and enjoy everything. Enjoy every step of the way, because it's a journey and not a destination. Allow yourself to be happy and don't wish practices away (I'm guilty of this) because before you know it, it's over. Breathe, enjoy it, and have fun. Because, after all, it's a game, a game embedded with life lessons, and you gotta learn them while you can!
