As high school basketball season rolls back around my heart breaks a little knowing that I will never again be a part of it. Throughout my basketball career, I experienced defeat and success. Looking back on it all now, the outcomes aren’t what I remember. I remember the people in the stands cheering you on, the coaches, and the teammates who stood beside you on the court. When you take off that jersey for the last time, clean out your locker, and walk away from one of the best things that ever happened to you, the memories made and lessons learned will be carried with you always.
In the moment you may think that the end will never come. It may seem as if there will always be another minute on the clock, another practice, another play, or another game, but one day it will end. No one can prepare you for the crushing sense of defeat you will feel when the clock runs out for the last time. If you’re like me, sports mean the world to you. My senior year, basketball games and practices were my only reasons to even come to school. The seemingly endless running and the late practices made it easy to take for granted, but you'll miss even the little things that you hated in the moment. Things like the words "get on the line" seemed like the worst statement to hear, but what you didn't realize quite yet was that those little things will teach you lessons you won't learn anywhere else. Running all those suicides and shooting more foul shots than you could count taught you so much more than just preparing for the next game. They taught you to stretch your limits and to know you’re capable of more than you think. You will learn to play through pain, knowing that it is temporary while the success is not. When you think back, you’ll realize that the losses will teach you more than the wins. The losses taught you to be humble and to know that maybe you weren’t quite as good as you thought you were and that there is always room for improvement. The losses will prepare you for the failures you are bound to experience throughout life beyond the game. They will teach you that even when you give it your all, sometimes you still come up short, but no matter what you always get back up and try again.
You’ll hear people say to enjoy every moment. I can’t stress enough how important this is. Enjoy every second that you get to have on the court, every moment you get to wear that uniform, and every day you get to go to practice. Time will not slow down, no matter how much you wish it might. One of the most beautiful things about basketball is like all other good things, it must come to an end, but your left with unforgettable experiences. These will be some of the best days of your life so take in every moment and hold on tight to every memory because one day that will be all you have left. There’s nothing like the relationships that you make and the lessons that you learn on the court. It’s not something that can be explained or even put into words. Later down the road, you will make the realization that basketball is so much more than just a game. It's lessons learned, friendships built, and memories made. Never forget the little things that basketball teaches you because one day you'll look back and see that they were the big things.
