My teachable moment was something I learned throughout the course of my high school life. More specifically, the time I spent on my varsity basketball team. I learned many life lessons while hanging around my teammates and coaches. Practicing and playing well during our games required trust and communication with each other. Having faith in your teammates makes it easier for the team as a whole. All it takes is one issue for a team to face struggles. This includes one of the most vital players not cooperating with others, teammates looking down on each other, or simply not caring. From this piece, the reader will learn how to deal with differences in opinions and bring a community together.
I joined my school’s varsity basketball team in my freshman year, and I was the only freshman to be added to the roster. At first, I felt very nervous since I was the only one from my grade, and I had to get to know everyone on the team already. To my surprise, everyone was so nice and understanding toward me. I didn’t get to play too much during my freshman year, but I was able to play a couple of games and score my first career points. In practice we pushed each other to become better, and we even offered to help those that were struggling in their classes so they could stay on the team. I haven’t seen such a close community like this in a long time. I actually got along with the upperclassmen, and they would help me work on things that I was struggling with.
It was very touching to me that I was able to be a part of something so special. No one else in the school understood how close our team was to each other, and it was always nice knowing someone had my back if something went wrong. Our season was going great, and we were undefeated. The other teams in our division were so easy to beat, but we were worried about only one team because they actually had pretty good players as well. Our practices and scrimmages were meant to prepare for the two matchups we had against them. Those practices had a completely different atmosphere, and we had teammates yelling at each other. This wasn’t really an issue though because we only wanted each other to get better, and after practice, we would be all laughs and jokes in the locker room. We ended my freshman year undefeated but lost in the playoffs. I learned so many valuable lessons from the upperclassmen that year, and I wanted to be able to continue that in my later years. Some lessons included how to be a role model, be a team leader, and help others come to a compromise when they are disagreeing on something.
Fast forward to my senior year; it was the first full school year ever since COVID struck. Me and my other friends who were on the team worked out in the summer so we could get back into shape and be ready for our last season. We didn’t want to waste this last opportunity since we already lost one full year. I also came into the season preparing myself to be the team captain since I had spoken with my coach already. We held tryouts around November/December, and I had to set an example for the students trying out. I wanted to be able to motivate people to continue pushing themselves because it seemed like it was already hard enough for people once we started getting into the harder drills. Every time we ended a tryout, we would gather everyone around to say some encouraging words and keep everyone thinking positive so they could bring their best game.
We finished tryouts before winter break, and we finally got our complete roster for the season. There were a lot of new faces on the team, adding a lot of sophomores and freshmen. There were two sophomores in particular who were very good, and they would eventually end up becoming key players in our rotation. Our first practices were going good, and I believe I did a good job getting everyone to be comfortable with each other.
However, we started to face troubles after our first game ended. We lost to our rival school pretty badly, and one of the sophomores was very upset with the team. Let’s just say that he had a very high ego, and always looked down on the other teammates. He also didn’t have trust in any of us so it made it very difficult for us to like him. This proved to be a huge issue moving forward because he wouldn’t pass the ball that much, and didn’t really listen to the coaches either. Eventually, it turned into a much bigger issue towards the end of the season when players on the team started to complain more about it. Being the team captain, the number of complaints I heard from teammates was absurd, and I knew something had to be done about it. It was only right that I couldn’t visibly show my disgust towards the sophomore because it would be irresponsible. Nonetheless, I did everything I could to bring people together and keep their hopes up. I would always make sure to keep the younger players involved so they didn’t feel left out, and I reassured everyone that the situation would be handled.
Me and the seniors always talked to our coaches after practice about what was going on, and they also knew it was a big issue. I didn’t want this problem to continue any longer because I knew it would affect the younger players’ experiences as they continue to attend the school. One day, my coach had told me that he kicked out the sophomore and he wouldn’t be continuing with us moving forward. Everyone on the team let out a big sigh of relief, and we actually started to play better basketball as the season was nearing its end. Practices and games started to become enjoyable again, and I was glad that I was able to have my teammates’ trust to handle the situation.