How being an athlete has changed my life

I have been a female athlete all my life. I started off just like any other kid playing some sort of sport that required 30 minutes of running around and 30 minutes of “snack time”. The sport that I really took a liking to was basketball probably because my mom had been playing it her whole life and I grew up watching her play. At age 6 I got put on my first basketball team and I could not have been happier. I met my first best friend playing basketball and we are still friends to this day.

As I got older basketball became a little bit more competitive and not as much running around, laughing and joking. We wanted to win every game and we worked hard to do it. My dream as a child was to be the first female basketball player in the NBA.

In high school I tried out for the Alberta Provincial Team and for the first time ever I was cut from a basketball team. I was devastated. I went through a time where I thought I wasn’t good enough. This was different from the guys I knew who got cut and thought of it as a time to, “show them.” They wanted to get better while I never wanted to play again. That soon wore off after that beginning of summer season and I was working harder than ever.

In my high school career I won 1 “Rookie of the Year” award in grade 11, 1 MVP award in grade 10, All-Star of the league in grade 9, 10, 11 and 12 and finally MVP in grade 12. I had won countless MVPs of tournaments and All-Star awards by the end of my career in high school.

I made the decision to play college basketball after I graduated and I moved up to Camrose, AB to play for Augustana, which was a school in the ACAC (Alberta College Athletic Conference). My first year was difficult as I wound up with an ankle injury and then I had mono for the rest of my season. I went from a team in high school that got 2^nd in provincials two years in a row to being on a team that got third last in the conference. That year was the hardest year of my life when it came to basketball. I wanted to play but I was stuck with either an injury or an illness. I lost a lot of muscle that year as well as my skill for the game and it took me a couple months to get it back. I decided after a huge amount of conflicting thoughts to move back to Calgary to attend SAIT. 

This was a completely different experience. I went from being one of the better players on my team at Augustana to warming the bench at SAIT. A number of times I wanted to walk off the team because I did not think I deserved it. I knew I was better then a few of the players that were getting playing time over me. I decided to stay however and improve my game and I had a lot of fun with the girls I played with. The coach and I did not see eye to eye on a lot of things and it was not until the last game that he admitted to me while the rest of the team listened in, that he should have been playing me more and that I was one of his stronger players. I learned a lot that year in regards to how to handle rejection and how to not take things personally.

After that year I decided that I wanted to focus on school and start coaching basketball more in the community. I wound up playing for a few months with St. Mary’s University College in Calgary, which is in the ACAL. This league was not very strong and although I played well and was one of the best players in the league it was not up to my competitive standards. That year was a year of learning and teaching for me. I was more of a player coach and helped the girls on my team improve. I only lasted a year and have since continued to play in recreational leagues as well as co-ed leagues, which is extremely fun.

Playing basketball at such a competitive level has made me a better person as well as a player. I now coach basketball and take everything I have learned both from good seasons and bad and pass it onto my players. I also think of myself as a mentor to the girls I coach and I take more pride in my coaching then I ever did my playing.

As an athlete I learned so many things about myself and I am so glad that I played a competitive sport growing up. I made life long friends as well as life long lessons. I make goals for myself and I hold myself accountable. I am disciplined and my time management is exceptional because of playing post secondary.  To be an athlete takes dedication and the amount of time I spent in a gym I will never get back. I do not regret the years I spent in the gym working on my shot and learning how to dribble. Out of all the things I have done in my life I have to say that being an athlete outweighs anything in regards to helping me be successful in my life. I will always be an athlete and will continue to play basketball as long as my body allows for it. I love the sport and I love where it has taken me.