The day I was born, my grandpa held me and looked at my dad and said, “Son, she is going to be a basketball player.” From that day on, my dad set me up for what was going to be my future. How could he know when I was so young that that sport would then in turn be the love of my life?
I remember the day that I fell in love with basketball — it was when I was about 4 years old. I walked outside to see strange men in my backyard pouring cement. I went up to my dad and asked what was going on, and he replied, “Sis, I’m building you a basketball court.”
My dad and I spent hours on that court, whether it was playing each other in horse, or just practicing ball handling drills. I always wanted to be with a ball and always wanted to be on the court. When we weren’t playing, we were watching basketball, whether it was cheering on the Illini or Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Basketball had became more of a religion to my family and me.
When I became old enough, I wanted to play for the city traveling basketball team. I was only 8 years old when I signed up for my lifelong commitment. I spent at least 2 days a week at practice and every weekend away playing the sport I loved with people who began to become my family. Not only did my parents come to every game, so did my teammates and soon enough their parents had become my support system too.
As I got older, the workouts became more intense, I had practice almost every single day and wore the uniform for at least 2 different teams. At first I began to play this sport because my dad wanted me to, but now it was more than that. I played because I wanted to make him proud of not only the player I was, but also the person I had become because of basketball.
Entering high school was when I began to have a serious relationship with basketball. My entire summer was devoted to early morning weights and late night games accompanied by hot and sweaty afternoons spent in the gym. Our team traveled to different states and played others from across the nation. The one characteristic that all of us had in common was that we wouldn’t want to spend our summer doing anything else. The discipline that we shared was because we not only committed to our teams, but also to ourselves to be the best player we could be for the love of the game.
By now I had been playing with some of these girls for at least 6 years, they weren’t just my teammates they were more of my family. We had seen each other at the away losses or even at home buzzer beaters. We watched one another suffer from jammed fingers, sprained ankles or even just the aqua colored bruises. This sport connected us not just on the court but in our memories that we could never forget.
My high school years were coming to an end and so I cherished every practice and every day that I got to walk into the locker room and put on my jersey. I was proud to play for my city and to be apart of a legacy. It made me even more proud to see my dad in the stands every game, watching the player and person I had become because of this sport.
The sore muscles my teammates and I had only made us stronger and the suicides we ran only increased our endurance. We would do everything we could to be victorious, even though sometimes it wasn’t enough. This was going to be the last time I would play with a team that cared so much as well as the last time I would be coached by someone who had more knowledge about the strategies that would win basketball games.
The years have gone by and I still think about the memories that basketball and I had made. Sure we may be on a break and I may shoot around or play a pick up game, but it isn’t the same. Every time I see someone make a perfect three pointer, create a turnover or give a backdoor assist I get chills, because I once was that person making those plays.
Basketball has taken the best years of my life and made them worth remembering, and it is something I know I will never get over. I can only hope that someday we can be together again, and someday I will show my children how much the love of the game can impact their life just like my dad showed me.
