The basketball court is a place that I love and appreciate deeply. I literally call this place my second home. Whenever I need to relieve stress or just play for fun, it does it for me. This place varies in appearance but serves the same purpose. It doesn't matter whether it's indoors or outdoors, it's always a ball and a dream. I'm so happy to play basketball because it really shaped most of my life. Looking at me knowing that I play basketball and that's what I love, you probably assume that I've been playing for a while and that's all I did growing up. I actually started as a ballerina dancer. I danced from 2004 to 2007 at Rhythm Technique in Greenville. It wasn't until I was about seven years old that I started playing basketball. My uncle, Big Trayal, was playing basketball for his high school and AAU this summer. I went to all his matches to see him put on a show. At his AAU games, I carried a basketball and bounced next to the bleachers while he played on the court. During halftime, I was the only girl on the court, shooting the ball with both hands, feet back as I got up off the floor, literally standing two feet in front of the basketball. This was when they huddled together to talk about the first half and what they would do better in the second half. Then I had to go back to the stands, sitting between my grandmother and grandfather after they kicked me off the field, to start warming up again and get ready for the second half. It was this experience that inspired me to write my essay about the basketball court, in which I detail the importance of this place and how it made me the person I am today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay I grew up outside, playing from sunrise to sunset with my siblings and cousins. We went from playing tag, to swimming, to kickball, to basketball, or any other activity that involved running or teamwork. Of course, basketball was our favorite and the one we played the most until someone got angry or hurt. At my great-grandmother's house it was a small piece of red dirt, the size of a porch, surrounded by grass, with a piece of wood about 8 feet deep in the ground also holding the board in place. drink. The wood plowed into the ground was spray painted the gingerbread brown color. The backboard was an off-white color and was barely attached to the wood due to the basketball bouncing in the red dirt and pounding the backboard. It was our “basketball court”. My cousins, siblings and I would shoot for the title of “captain,” meaning if you shoot behind the red dirt, you could pick your teammates first and get the ball first. Our grandparents' favorite phrase was: "Don't be bored in this red earth!" » So we would find a way around it even if it meant shooting the basketball from the grass or passing people across the court pretending to still be on the land. When I was in 4th grade, I played basketball for the Upward Stars at Brushy Creek Baptist Church. It was basically a church basketball league where every Saturday you played against a team of your age group and gender. Sure, I knew the game and probably thought I was Maya Moore back then, but if I compare myself to today, my game has changed drastically. After playing, our team received 1 stariron on our jersey that we received at the start of the season. Our actions, attitudes and words on game day would determine which star we would receive. Each star was a different color and each one meant something special. The color of the stars was white, blue, gold, gray and red. A star would represent one of these actions; effort, sportsmanship, offense, defense, or Christ-likeness. I think that's when my journey finally began and I saw what potential I had mentally, athletically, spiritually and socially. In 5th grade, I played basketball for an all-boy church team. We practiced at Evangelistic Temple (ET) Baptist Church every Wednesday, but we played against a different church team every Saturday. Playing with all the boys and being the only girl made me the basketball player I am today. I was exposed to a completely different style of basketball that really improved me and helped me become a better basketball player. It made me more aggressive, faster and more advanced than girls usually my age. I also learned valuable skills that I probably wouldn't always learn playing against girls. After the championship game, while I was playing at the church dance for ET, a middle-aged man named Rick Boone, came up to me, introduced himself and asked me if I played to AAU for anyone. Of course I didn't, so my answer was "No." Basically, he was telling me that he had never seen a girl play for once on an all-boy, two-person basketball team with so much potential at that age. He wanted me to play for his AAU team, Upper Level Pride. At first I was shy, but my grandmother encouraged me to go out and see if I like it. I played AAU basketball for Rick Boone every summer from 6th through 11th grade. We practiced every Monday and Wednesday to prepare for the tournament next weekend. Tournaments were local and out of town, including in the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. If they weren't in town, they were most likely exposure tournaments where you show off your skills in front of college coaches to get looks and scholarships. Playing against other teams from around the world has made me a better team player and individually. In 7th and 8th grade, I played middle school basketball for League Academy. It was a little scary playing organized basketball for the first time. In 7th grade, I earned a starting spot through hard work in practice and we lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Personally, I think we had a better team overall in 7th grade than we did in 8th grade. Our team was much smaller, it was like we only had guards and no posts. That's why I was surprised that we went to the championship and won it. We also didn't lose a single game this season, so our overall record was 15-0. Now I have moved from middle school to high school. The speed of play is different with more intensity on the pitch. You play freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors on the same team. Freshman year after tryouts, the head coach, Coach Burrow, and the two assistant coaches talked to each player individually in his office and asked them how they thought they did during tryouts and how they did. they had been part of the team. If they made the team, they would either play JV or Varsity. I was trying out the first year with almost 60 girls, with the coach only filling a few.