My favorite sport when I was growing up was basketball. I played from first grade all the way up until my sophomore year in high school. It was so fun to me and I always wanted to play, whether it was just in the driveway with my dad or on a team in a gym. I was amazing on the defensive side of the game, mainly attributing to the fact that I was about a foot taller than most other girls my age. Also, partially because of my height, I could always make a basket right over the top of my defender. Once, when I was in about third grade playing at the YMCA, I pulled an opposing players ponytail to keep her from reaching the basket before I did. I also had this defensive stance my coach taught me when I was really young. I would stand low and strong and put on the most intimidating facial expression I could come up with.

I wasn’t always that brutal and ridiculous, but the older you become and the longer you play the more aggressive the game becomes. Once I was in high school the meaner you were the better. My father would actually stand up and cheer every time I would foul the other team. My dad had been my coach for a couple seasons but he didn’t treat me any different than the rest of the team. I never wanted to play on the school teams because I thought it took all of the fun out of it. Basketball was their lives and they practiced every day. I didn’t want it to take me over so starting in seventh grade I played for the Police Athletic League (PAL). We only practiced once a week and we had games on Saturdays. I started out on a team that was really good. We won almost every game but I hardly ever got to touch the ball. I liked winning, but I wanted to be considered a more important player than just the really tall girl that blocks everyone’s shots.

The next year, more people registered for the league than usual and they had to add another team of random players from all of the other teams. I was included and my dad became the coach. We were awful. I think we only won one game the entire season and I usually found myself being the only one scoring any points. I soon realized that the other teams must have just chosen their worst players and pawned them off on us. It wasn’t that bad though because I had so much more fun on this team. We were always laughing and joking around in practice while everyone else ran laps. They have an all-star game at the end of the year where coaches choose their best players from the team to play in the final game. I was chosen for the game and the foul shot competition. I had a science down for foul shots and I made almost every one. When I was selected for the competition, my dad made me practice for days. Every night I was just standing at the foul line shooting at the basket. The more I practiced though the worse I seemed to get. I ended up making only two out of ten foul shots in the competition while all of my competitors made at least eight. Any other day in practice I would have made all of them. The competition ruined it for me and I haven’t really been good at them since then. Sometimes the competitive edge of a game can take all of the fun out if it. I started playing basketball to have a good time, and I quit when I wasn’t anymore. I still love the game, but I’d rather play it in the driveway with my dad.