The Basketball Hero

Kyree Leon                                 Narrative Writing Essay                                 2/5/16

        4 years ago in 2012, in the midst of a cool spring season, my path to become a basketball player had begun. It was a normal Tuesday morning, like any other day, though the thing that made me feel different was when our school’s basketball coach approached me. Every single-step he took towards me made my heart race with adrenaline. My mind was thinking of a million questions of what was about to happen. I remember I was in my science class at the time doing experiments with the weather cycle and how it affected our environment. The first thing he asked me was if I was interested in sports. It never really occurred to me if I was interested in sports but I felt like this was my one and only chance to chase my dreams.

        2 months later I would have never thought in a million years that I would’ve joined the boys’ varsity team from my school. My body changed drastically since the first day I practiced; my legs ran faster and could jump higher. My arms could carry more weight and were stronger. My body shape had changed from a chubby kid to a toned out athlete. Every practice was filled with 50 suicides, 50 push-ups, 1 mile runs around the court 3 times, and dribbling/shooting techniques. The only bad thing about the practices were the horrid stench of sweat and arm-pit hair from everyone on the team. Though I knew that there was a game coming soon, I felt the same anxiousness and excitement as when I first met the coach.

        After many weeks of practices, the time for our first game was finally here. As I had thought today on Tuesday was the day, the day of our of teams first basketball game. The game was planned to start at 3:30 so all the players had to stay afterschool and wait for the coach to drive the bus to the stadium. My heart was racing with adrenaline with every step I took on the bus, I felt pumped. Meanwhile on the bus everyone was loudly chanting “Let’s go Panthers!” and betting on who was going to make the points; the atmosphere couldn’t be any more alive than this. When we finally arrived at the stadium, the first thing we did was do body stretches so that our arms and legs were ready to play. After I finished doing my stretches I saw a player of the team we were versing walk inside through the double-doors. With the little time we had left before the match started, I walked up to him and greeted him with a “Hey! You ready for today?” He responded with “Heck Yeah I am! My whole family is coming to watch me play”. Right after he said that the warm-up bell rung and all the players had to be with their team so the game could start, we both nodded to each other and said good-bye while running to our side of the court in the stadium. My position on the court was as a defender on the left side of the hoop, my job was to make sure no one came close enough with the ball to shoot it. Eventually when everyone got in their positions, the game was beginning to start; two players from each team walked into the center of the court and stood firm with a steady gaze against each other. The referee threw the ball in the air upwards and the buzzer rang loudly; this was a moment I could never forget, this was my time to shine!