I’m running down the court, I get the ball, I take a dribble off my knee and out of bounds it goes. “Come on Austin!” Everyone has that one person who just inst good at something you’re doing and that was me with basketball.

In sixth grade, all of my friends were trying out for the basketball team but I had never played before. I really liked basketball but wasn’t always the best at it. I have always been really athletic but most of my friends had played for years before. But I thought I would give it a shot and try out.

The try outs came and I had that nervous chill go down my spine. I was so nervous because I had never tried out for a team before. Of course all of my friends were doing everything right and getting all of the attention from the coach. Because I was so athletic I was able to not look as bad on defense. I have always been tall so I was the big guy blocking all of the shots. But it didn’t look so pretty on the other side of the court. Every time I shot, it was like watching a blind person trying to shoot. I was awful. Even though I was really bad on the offensive end, I was hoping my defense would make up for it.

At the end of try outs they sat us down and said to go get out stuff from the locker room and then once we came out, they would have the sheets on the wall of the people who made it. Walking into the locker room drenched in sweat, but so nervous I was almost shaking, I got my stuff and waited for the coaches go. Everyone was ready, and then coach finally said to go out and check. We are all so eager to go see if we made the team, so we are all scrunching into this little hallway to get out of the locker room. We all burst of the door and start reading the pieces of paper looking for our names. We were told to go back into the locker room if our name was on the sheet. So every couple of seconds you would see a kid walking really slow with a lot of confidence or some kid jumping up and down like they won the lottery. I get to the sheet with my heart pounding through my chest. The sheets were in alphabetical order so I would be on the top of one of the sheets. I look on the first one and I’m not on that one, I double check just to make sure. I look on the second sheet and glowing like a neon light, there was my name. I took a couple steps back and put the biggest smile on my face and start heading into the locker room. I felt like the happiest kid in the world. Turning my head and looking at the other kids walking into to locker room with those big smiles on their faces.

When the last few kids walk in the locker room the coach was standing there waiting for us to be quiet and then said “Congratulations boys” and then the room was filled with smiles and screaming 11 year olds. Finally the room got quiet again and he said practice starts tomorrow.

The next day at practice we got our smelly practice uniforms and old wrinkled game uniforms. Then we got into the “gym” which was actually the cafeteria with two old basketball hoops hanging from the ceiling. We didn’t get the good gym because the girls got it instead of us. So the first thing we did was a drill where you pass and then run down the court for a layup. So I started off good when we were on the right side making all of my layups and not messing up my dribbling. But when we had to switch sides, disaster struck and I didn’t do anything right. I got the ball and dribbled out of bounds or lost the ball somehow and then when I did get the basket, I threw it up and I wasn’t even close to even hitting the rim. Great... Now the whole team knows I’m terrible.

When we would get brakes for water, after I got a drink I went and shot around and tried to make my shot better. I always wanted to look like the NBA players where they have perfect form and they make almost every shot. My form wasn’t that bad! It was just I couldn’t make a shot if my life depended on it. And here come all of my teammates looking at me laughing at me and telling me to “Don’t even try”, or “Airball!” Hearing those things was like a shot to the heart. Even though I tried to cover it up by laughing and just going along with it, it hurt a lot more that they thought.

From that point forward I had my mind set to work the hardest and show every one of the kids that I was on that team for a reason. So every weekend I went to the gym with my friends and spent 6 dollars to go practice until 10 o’clock at night. Most of the time I spent up to 8 hours there just trying to improve my game. I was on a mission and I wasn’t about to let anyone get in the way or put me down. That Christmas break I went to the gym every single day except for 3 days, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Years Eve.

The next year trying out for the basketball team I had a lot more self confidence and had a mind set to show the kids who made fun of me last year, that I was there for a reason. And that was to humiliate them on the court. When we did the little drills I did my best and got some attention from the coaches. I had improved so much from last season; it was like I was a different person. So when we were put onto teams for games, I picked out one player from each team that I was going to guard and make sure they didn’t have an easy time on the court. One of the kids was one of the people who made fun of me the year before. So when the game started it was ON. He didn’t score one point the whole game and I scored most of my teams points. So they finally saw my true potential as a basketball player.

Maybe you are not the smartest kid in the class. Maybe you are not the best player on your team. You should not be put down just because of what you can or what you cannot do. It is better to build some one up to tear them down even though it might take a little more effort. Even if you are put down, fight through it and do not let anyone get the better of you. With dedication, anything is possible.