It was fall of my eighth-grade year, and I couldn't wait for basketball tryouts. I had been practicing all summer trying to prepare for my first basketball tryout. Then I heard the school bell ring meaning tryouts was in ten minutes. Nervously, I walked into the gym and saw a lot of kids trying out who have played their whole lives; then the coach blew the whistle and we all started warming up. At the end of tryouts, I thought I played great and I was excited to come back for the second day of tryouts the next day. I could barely sleep that night all I was thinking of was playing again. I woke up super early and ran as fast as I could to the school.The second day of tryouts began and the coach said not everyone would make the team, this made …show more content…
All year around I practiced and I could see myself get better but I didn't know if I was good enough to compete in high school basketball. Finally, freshmen year tryouts came, and this year I was confident in my ability but I was also nervous because we had to tryout in front of coaches and upperclassmen I didn't know. Tryouts lasted three days at the end the coaches announced who made the team. The new coach called my name and I slowly walked up to him hoping I was going to make the team. He first said “congratulations you made the team”, a smile slowly started to come on my face and I could barely hear what he said after because I was so happy. That's when I realized that no matter how much you hope for or talk about achieving something, you will never get close to your goals unless you devote one-hundred percent of your time and energy to achieving those goals. After getting cut I learned to always stay determined. I stopped wishing for my goals and instead I bettered myself to acquire them. Ever since that experience I have always managed to master even the toughest
It made me realize that hard work and practice will help me make the team next year. Practicing was the key to making the team. Before the next tryout I went every night to go hit and field to get better. On rainy days or days my dad had to work later I would hit
Now I knew almost all of the coaches except the freshmen. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew we were going to come out and work hard every practice. All I wanted to do was impress the coaches. I had an advantage over all my teammates, I kinda knew what they expected.
They were smiling at me, hoping that I would stay in for the rest of the game. That’s when power ran through me, smiles started to appear on my face. And that’s when I knew I was going to play the rest of the game ,and I was going to play the rest of the tournament. Even if my arm ached. When I looked at my coach she gave me a thumbs up ,and I gave her a happy thumbs up back.
Life’s as usual in my life until a date appeared on the calendar. March 9th: Track Team Tryouts. I thought about trying out for the team; and after a silent debate in my head featuring the pros and cons of being on the team, I decided to I’d run again this year. Although I knew I was capable of making the team , I also knew I had to get back in shape. “Let’s turn theses flabs into abdominis then.”
I was averaging 15 points a game my freshman year. I started getting frustrated because we oppurrnties losing .I was getting kicked out of practices and missing games . My teammates were blowing up my phone but I just ignored them . When I came to school everybody was asking me why haven’t I been at practice or been at games , I just told them I was taking a break from basketball because I was tired of losing and nobody else stepping up to help us win.
Six years of pee wee, four years of travel, roughly 10,000 dollars of my parents hard earned money spent in payments, numerous nights of practice, countless days consumed by games and I did not make the team. An entire summer of early mornings dedicated to workouts, and I did not make the team. My freshman year I tried out for the Brentwood High School soccer team and didn’t make the cut. I will never forgot waiting anxiously for that email, opening it and not seeing my name on that roster. I was devastated, embarrassed and simply sad.
I knew that my goal was to be one of the starting five, but how was I going to get there. I could work out, eat healthier, try harder in practice, and suck up to my coach. I’m kidding I didn’t suck up to my coach instead I proved myself to him that I should be starting on the court instead of the bench. So, what I did was run, lift, eat healthier, and eventually he started to notice me. I was getting faster and stronger than my teammates and opponents.
I was not supposed to be on varsity, but since I was at every summer workout and studied the sport for the upcoming season I earned a spot. When we went to start practice I was starting on both defense and offense and I felt unstoppable. Two weeks went by and we had our first scrimmage against the hale center. I
I had the privilege of being on many teams that went on and won my first tournaments, and seasons, and even got my first ring from winning a state championship. Having this kind of experience, I met my future middle school coach, Woody Bolus, while practicing at the fields a few weeks before I would start middle school. I remember like it was yesterday, he told me I was looking good and to come out to tryouts in the spring strong. That one sentence alone drove me to go out and practice every single day until I made the team. The day of tryouts came rapidly, and although determined and ready as I could ever be, I was anxious.
The ironic part is it sparked something in me; I was determined to heal quickly and push myself past my limits. In the end, I became more aggressive on the field and one of the best players on my team. The coaches noticed this huge change and awarded me the Coaches’ Award at the end of the season. Knowing I had more potential, I pushed myself even further and my talents were recognized by the new coach my senior year. I achieved my goal of starting every game and played a majority of the eighty minutes of regulation time.
During practice we did this drill for the starters. As I was sitting on the silver, cold bench, coach called my name. I was very surprised and my heart started racing. “Matty you will be starting forward now”.
I started to practice at my house—it was the only hoop available for me at the time. Everyday, I would go outside and just shoot as many shots as I can so, I could make my form better. A few weeks of practicing, I started to see progress in my form—I made more shots than usual. Since I thought I was getting better, I decided to ask my parents if they could put me in a basketball team. My parents agreed without any hesitation.
It was very emotional afterwards, it was very quiet the next day at school. Coming into the next season we weren’t for sure who our coach was going to be and how hard he was going to be on us, the first day of tryouts was all about conditioning and seeing who was a hard worker. After the three difficult days of tryouts, our coaches came and talked to us, he rated us on a scale from 1 to 10 on how we were, if you were rated below a 5 then you got cut. Not many people got cut though, when we had our first practice as a team it was all about defense, we had
Then I could at last dribble constantly and smoothly in place or even while running. This accomplishment was my first step up into my intense pursuit to become a first-rate basketball player (or so I thought). Then I tried to shoot the into the hoop, but like dribbling I had failed, I couldn't even hit the basketball hoop. Though I continuously kept on trying to get better. It’s like they say practice makes perfect.
I felt that I was the worst on the team and that because I was so terrible, no one would like me. After only one practice I was ready to give up. I did not want to put in the effort. Fortunately, my parents forced me to continue with the team. I arrived the next day with an intense