As the winter season approaches and as I attend my own college’s basketball games, I can’t help but think back to our days on the court and all the memories that come with it. Sweat, laughter, tears, anger, body ache. We experienced so much together for such a long time. In the moment, it seemed like the days would never end--that we be forever stuck sprinting suicides, running drills, lifting weights and drinking ounces and ounces of water. But always in the back of our minds was the settled thought that this wouldn’t last forever. One day our team would be separated and we would look back on the “glory days.” Well, now that time of our lives is here and all we can do is remember. Those memories are some of the best we have and although people say we will forget high school because college brings the best days of our lives, I will never forget the memories I made with all of you. Thank you for impacting such a portion of my life.
Remember when fear paralyzed us as to what kind of conditioning our coach would makes us do that year? We could still feel the strain in our legs due to running up and down our school stairs from last season. The echo of coach’s whistle still rang in our ears and the word “baseline” still made our stomach cringe. Remember the suffocating feeling of not being able to breathe? But then our first team meeting would come around and we would buzz with excitement. We tried on our new shoes, our new warm up gear, our new jerseys. At the end of October, our first practice arrived and the built up energy was released. Despite our stumbled dribbling and air balls from coming out of the off-season, we flew down the court during the three-man weave and ran those suicides with clear charisma. Our heavy breathing and burning chests felt good because we were finally back in the game, feeling that chemistry between us on the court.
Remember when practices became draining? We loved our time together, improving our game, but the suicides started to feel a little like dying and our muscles ached constantly. But that pain bonded us, it was something we struggled through together. As much as there was tears and pooling sweat, there was laughter and smiles too. And at the end of practice, we would sprawl on the ground and take off our smelly shoes and sweaty practice jerseys. We would simply talk and laugh because we were all best friends. I can’t say we always left practice in good moods because sometimes it had been a tough two hours, our bodies ached, and our jump shot didn’t look as pretty as we would like. But we continuously came back and pushed through.
Remember when games would start and the excitement would coarse through us once again? One of us would get up and give our team devotions as we all strapped and tied ankle braces and shoes. We would then bring our hands in and pray- giving all the glory to the one we knew blessed us with the ability to play the game. After devotions came stretching and our unique pre-game warm ups, one of the main ways we became unified as team. Aqua Vitae could be heard powerfully booming from the speakers and we knew it was our time to run out onto the court.
Remember how it felt to win? Even better, remember how it felt to win regionals and then sectionals? We were on top of the world, succeeding more than our team ever had. We cut pieces of the net after our first regional championship and took picture after picture with our celebratory smiles. Our school even provided a coach bus to travel in for our next game on our trek to making in to State. We had never seen more fans show up to our games with that amount of passion than during that time. Remember how it felt to be in a gym so loud we couldn’t hear each other call plays?
Yes, college has brought some of the best days of my life, but they don’t compare to the feeling of being on team with my best friends. No one has the memories we do. Sleepovers with late night junk food binges and 8 a.m. practices the next morning. Harmonizing “I Believe I Can Fly” before the game and chowing down Portillos afterwards. Dancing in the locker room, crying in the locker room. Making it super sectionals, only one step away from state. Dousing our shoes with athletic powder to take away the stink and always asking each other for prewrap. Being on a team made us as best friends into something even more special. So thanks for the memories. They are something to hold onto.
And one more thing: Go Warriors.
