Dealing With Adversity In Basketball

Throughout my years of participating in high school basketball, I have overcome many challenges. My freshmen year, basketball started in a way I never expected. Continuing on, I understood the real meaning of hard work, and what it takes. Lessons I learned in basketball will carry on throughout my life, helping me to become a successful adult.

Why do I like to play basketball? While we may not realize it, there is some rationale for everything we do. It may not always be logical, but there is a force that drives our emotions, actions and ultimately our destiny. My motivation for playing basket ball is very simple, pure enjoyment. No one is telling me I need to play basketball and I certainly don’t need it to survive, but every time I step onto the court with my four other teammates, the electricity courses through my body and my heart races. Representing my school is a source of pride, but when added to the joy of playing the game, there’s nothing like it. But before I can encounter that feeling, it all must begin somewhere. The dreadful 2 hours of of my day,

Throughout my high school career athletics have had a major impact on my experiences and have shaped me into the person I am today. High school sports have taught me some of the most important and valuable lessons in life. Sports have illustrated life in many ways by not only subjecting me to success and victory, but also by putting me through adversity and defeat. Some of the most valuable lessons athletics have brought to me can be summed up in one quote by the legendary Vince Lombardi. Lombardi said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” I believe that some of the greatest things that I have learned through sports have been imparted upon me after I experienced some sort of adversity, great or small. I have been able to accept the fact that life is not always fair and that the only way to achieve success is through hard work and perseverance. Another lesson that I have learned through athletics is that nothing worth achieving can be achieved without working hard. High school sports not only require hard work in season, but also many months of hard work and sweat in the off-season. Great success can only be achieved when months of hard work finally pay off. Awards and titles in sports,

“It is only a game” is a common saying I have heard several times in my life. However, it does not explain the crazy actions and immense passion I experience on the PIT floor for basketball games. These feelings reached a pinnacle point during my freshman year basketball game against our arch-rivals, the Bettendorf Bulldogs.

As a student athlete, I have learned to use failure as an opportunity to learn. The moments in which I have "failed" have only helped me grow and reflect on the mistakes that not only I have made, but also those made by others. I was forced to do this multiple times throughout my final season of high school field hockey. Even though the team had players who were devoted and had a true desire to win, the season ended as a losing record in the books. As the primary goalie and captain, this was extremely difficult to accept. However, I began to see the game as more than just a win or a loss. Losing gave the team the opportunity to closely look at what we did well, and what we needed to improve on. We were then able to focus more precisely on what we needed to do in order to succeed. I was able to learn that being successful and winning were not necessarily the same thing. We had success in a smaller sense; we worked as a team, played clean games and were noted for our sportsmanship. Although our record did not improve much, the overall attitude and skill of the team began to rise. We began to play for each other, instead of just playing for ourselves. This change was astronomical for the overall well being of the team.

It was a playoff game for football who ever wins gets to go to the championship game. We where down by a touchdown and everybody was giving up to where I was about to give up. But I remembered what my dad had always told me" failing while trying is better than failing because you gave up." So it inspired me to, then I also had to inspire my team that we was going to win. And it worked, the next play we scored tie game. Then the other team turned the ball over and now its our ball, we had 1:00 on the clock and they decided to give me the ball. It was a pass play, it was a long run to the touchdown, but I did it. So my dad was the one that inspired me in that situation not to give

On a cold, frosty, snow cover night in November at Welcome Home Stadium, was when my life changed. That night, two teams played for the chance to call themselves champions of 6th-grade football. All game, my team and I battled against the mighty Wilmington Hurricanes. We fought all game to win and finally we got the ball back with less than under a minute left and down by 4 points. The crowd was quieter than a church mouse as my coaches huddled us up during a timeout, and in that timeout, my coaches looked to me for answers. Coach Harold said to me, and the team “,Pratt” this last minute was left for you to get us this win and a championship!

Just 2 minutes left the sun half way set, the crowd cheering and most of all the scouts not blinking paying attention to every detail, play and decision each one of us makes, I see the ball come off the rim and the other team grab the rebound and their other play already across the court just past half court I knew what I had to do. With no thought or anything I break out running across the court chasing their player knowing he was going for a fast break lay-up I knew I could catch there was no doubt about it but the question was would I block the ball or not I can feel the eyes staring at us curiously wonder what will happen. Just like I predicted I see his hand turn upside down getting ready to lay it up I take 2 more steps and leap as hard as I can towards the ball staring at the ball and nothing else all I cared about was saving my team from those 2 points and looking good on the court and on that stats sheets, that was a decision I would later pay for. I did what I had practice and done hundreds of times before at the park I swat my hand towards the ball as hard as I can, I hear when my hand hits it and it bounces off the backboard not thinking about my landing instead of preparing for the fall I prepare myself to start running back across court but that wouldn’t happen when I landed I felt a pop in my knee’s my

It took me a second to realize they were waiting for me. They were, for once, looking at me to call a play. I glance up at the clock, it holds at few minutes left, but I see the score and the other team is only down a few points. I quickly think of one of our plays, “Let’s run silver,” I say, “make sure to keep the ball moving and press on defense.” We break from our huddle and get into our positions. The referee blows his whistle and I start to lead the ball down the court. I glance over and see a split down the middle of the court, exactly what we needed. I dribble the ball the middle of the paint, right as I see the defenders start to cut me off. I make a sharp cut, turn, and pass the ball right to my shooting guard. He takes the ball in his hand and swiftly goes up and makes the three. We finished the game off with a win.

Breath was rushing out the kid who wore a Gray and blue uniform, the boy 's hair was black and poked straight up in twisted curls, he had brown eyes that looked like dirt, he was strong and athletic, his name was D’haquille Jones, and I was DhaQuille Jones, staring down at the newly glazed floorboards of John Pickett high school gym. The ref blew the whistle signaling that our time out was over, and all we had was thirteen precious seconds to beat the Valencia high. I jogged onto the court, adrenaline rushing through my body. The ref tossed the ball towards Chris, once he had found the open man he lobbed it over the oncoming defender. Calling for the ball I sprinted around my defender to get open. I Felt the sticky grip of the ball in my hand thinking of it as if I was holding the entire game. I ignored the fans screaming my name and cheering me on. My feet pounded the floor one by one as the ball bounced up and down on the court, with only five seconds I found my lane and took it. Their was the clock taunting me, four,

It was nearing the end of the game and we were winning 4-0. As we were heading for the goal on another break away, the opposing team kicked it out of bounds by the goal. My sister Bailey, who is also on the team, set the ball up for a corner kick. Her kick was a beautiful, high, hard drive to the front of the box. I remember thinking of my trainer’s words, “Anything is possible”. I jumped up at the right moment. My head connected perfectly with the ball and I drilled it into the top right corner of the net. There was no way the goalie could get her hands on it. I turned and saw my trainer on the Header sideline and he was going crazy! He was jumping up and down and yelling for me. He threw down his hat in excitement! I was the first

After that game I went to play in a tournament for my Hoover team at 11:00am. Because I was late to the game, I missed the warm ups. My coach did not start me because I had just played in a game at 9:00 am. I sat on the bench watching our team lose so finally my coach put me back in. We started to come back and then we got a big lead. Then my coach sat me back down.

Everything was going well until I faced my first real incident my junior year. Our team was successful during the last couple years, however it was not without sacrifice. Practices were long and grueling and our bodies were pushed to their physical limit, but the cheer of the crowd and the glowing feeling of winning made it all worth it. It turns out however, that the aches and pains of practice were not the only sacrifice to be

A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court written by Coach John Wooden is unlike any other book on leadership or biography I have ever read before. This book tells a story, a story about John Wooden’s life, the lessons he shares, the experiences he has had, and the people who have shaped the leader he became. There are no chapters, there are merely titles of the stories he is sharing and the lessons he wants to tell. In the book, there are four parts, Part 1: Families, Values, Virtues, Part 2: Success, Achievement, Competition, Part 3: Coaching, Teaching, Leading, and Part 4: Putting It All Together: My Pyramid of Success. Throughout each part, the stories reflect the overall theme of that section. The way this book reads

Air ball— again. My form was lost, coordination gone, and so was my patience. I’ve stopped playing basketball for 3 months mainly because of school work and things going on in my life. I was determined to get my skills back no matter how long it’ll take. I started a game of basketball with other people inside the gyms court. As soon as I got the ball, I started to race down the court pounding the ball as I was dribbling. I squared up facing the hoop getting ready to take my shot. I raised my arm up, releasing the ball with my fingertip with poor form and arc. The ball went flying towards the hoop very fast. The sound of the net went swoosh but, sadly it was an air ball. Unfortunately, I lost the basketball game for us; the people on the