Raise your hand if you were never an athlete growing up. If I had to guess, there would be about half the world’s population that would be raising their hands and the other half keeping them down with a smug little smile on their face that says, “Yep, that’s right, I’m more coordinated than you are.” I, of course, am in jest. But in all seriousness, there was something to be said about being a star athlete in high school. You were considered cool, you got the girls or boys, and you always seemed to get excused if you had a late assignment. In other words, the jocks ruled, and the rest of us, well, I’ll let you finish that sentence.
However, as annoying as that could be, sometimes, if you weren’t a star athlete, you do have to give credit where credit is due. Typically, an athlete doesn’t rely on pure natural ability, although there are those exceptions; often, someone is both athletically gifted and skilled due to the hard work and effort they have put into their trade. I can recall having a conversation with one such athlete in high school and the amount of time that he spent honing his sport, basketball, outside of school practices or the regular basketball season.
When I asked him what it was that he had done to get to the level he had, he answered, basketball camp. Every summer, which was considered off-season, he went to a specialized basketball camp that helped push him past his current limits to become the athlete that we knew him to be.
When I asked him what it was like to be a part of such a camp, he answered it was one of the most amazing experiences of his life. He not only got to play the sport that he loved every day for six hours a day for several weeks, but he also got to play with some of the best athletes in the basketball world. Where most camps would have counselors, he had coaches. His coaches had played professionally and had taken the time out of their schedules to help bring up the next generation of basketball stars.
He said that they helped him hone his abilities through hard work, perseverance, and a lot of sweat and tears. He said that they had them running passing drills, shooting drills, dribbling drills, working out in a weight room, running sprints, as well as many other physically exerting basketball exercises. He said they also have them working on teamwork and communication skills. They would divide them up into teams, and each team would go and do trust exercises and learn more about each other on a personal level. He said this is what helped build team camaraderie as well as loyalty with your fellow players.
This combined gave him an edge that many other athletes did not have. Whether that was because they didn’t have the means to go to such a camp or the discipline, either way, basketball camp is what helped put him several steps up above the rest. And it showed every time he stepped onto the basketball court and made winning shot after winning shot for our school.
It truly gave me new admiration for our school athletes to know how hard they genuinely work when we don’t see them. And while I still roll my eyes as they are favored or are slightly more obnoxious than the average student, I can’t help but cheer a little louder when they are kicking butt and taking names doing what they do best.
No responses yet