The horn at our home court sounding to end the season was a gut wrenching feeling and who knew this was going to be the last time I stepped on a court as a player. In my sophomore year, our basketball team was phenomenal. We advanced to the county finals for the first time since the 80’s and had one of the best records for our school. My friend and I took an opportunity to help varsity by helping out with filling water bottles after all the other junior varsity players left. After being upset in the state tournament, everyone was in the locker room crying for an hour and a half. It was the greatest team and family that I have ever been a part of. Junior year basketball was full of rapid changes. The previous coach announced his retirement, …show more content…
Everything that you did last year didn’t go unnoticed. I couldn’t sleep last night when I knew I had to make this decision. I want you to be a student coach.”
Hearing these positive words of encouragement raised my spirits immediately. He was visibly upset showing how hard decision was and that he needed me. When I saw this, I knew he meant it. I immediately accepted the offer. I loved being around the team and wanted to help the team reach its potential. The 2017 season wasn’t what anyone expected or hoped. We finished 7-17 on varsity. During the season, I filled water during practice, helped with shooting drills, participated in team offense drills, and encouraged the players as they ran suicides. In games, I sat on the sideline and recorded stats, later reporting them to the newspapers. During practices, I worked on all of the players to get their best. If a player was in the wrong position, I would stop it and correct them. If I was watching a drill and saw something wrong, I would alert the coaches. If I saw a flaw in their jump shot, I would try to fix it. Pushing the players to their full potential and staying after practice to get more work in was something that I did often. I loved seeing players take my advice and see it work. The experience was unbelievable. I learned so much about myself as I developed a strong passion for