(Continued from Part Eleven: Senior Night.)
Following Senior Night, our team lost the last two games of the season, including a very close game against Alhambra that ended up going down to the wire after a few close calls by the refs. The two losses did not seem to effect me the way that it usually would. We had a tough season but it all ended on a positive note. The fact that we still managed to bounce back from losing seven straight games to winning the one that seemed to matter the most was good enough for me.
In actuality, our final season standing did not matter much to me either. My goal was to finish something that I had started freshman year and I did just that. I wanted to see myself grow and develop, to come into the gym everyday and get better, to improve on the things that held me back the previous year and I think that I accomplished that fairly well. I had grown from an unsure and unconfident freshman to a player that finally had a clear awareness of what he could do to be an effective contributor for the team. In many ways, my career as a high school basketball player is an example of the larger experience I had as a student of San Gabriel High.
It is in these aspects and skills that I have learned to cherish the moments that I have had on the team. Sure, I had my tough times, times when I wondered if it would be better if I just left the program to pursue other interests, but I am so glad that I stuck with it. I have found other ways to appreciate the game that some may not recognize, ways that have inspired quite a few of these articles that are posted on this blog. Basketball is such an intricate sport, full of little details and areas that many may never care to look for, but should. I am not an expert of the sport, in fact I am still continuing to learn more about it as I gain more and more experience. This is what makes basketball so great!
In the end, the San Gabriel program is still trying to find the right team to make a run for CIF and I am just happy to have been a part of it. Basketball is not just an activity or a game; for me, it was much more than that. It served as an opportunity for me to loosen up, to meet some quality guys and solidify meaningful relationships that have lasted much longer than just the four seasons that I have played for the Matadors. It served as an opportunity for me to shake off the stress from school work and in this, I must say that basketball is quite therapeutic.
More importantly, basketball taught me and continues to teach me about life and how there are constantly obstacles that change in what may seem like a structured game. These obstacles are part of the process and if we give in, we would have not accomplished anything. Instead of avoiding these challenges, we must stare them in the face and embrace them, understand that without them, we would not appreciate the success and the accomplishments that we achieve once we get past them.
I love the game, and I will always find ways to engage with it. Whether it be playing recreationally with my friends, shooting around on my own, simply watching others play, or writing about it, basketball will somehow find its way in my life.
As a freshman, I would have never thought of basketball in this way, but as I grow older and much more mature, I begin to realize how perspectives may change. It never ceases to amuse me how a simple game can represent so much more.
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