Blog Post numero dos

This is the story of the world’s most anticipated greatest disappointment also known as the Next Gen 7th Annual High School classic. I’ve been playing and excelling in basketball for about five years now and I occasionally participate in basketball tournaments with my church team. I use the term participate loosely since the way my church team plays, we do not get far in the competition often. My team is led by men in their late 20s who believe playing time should be divided by seniority. This means, the high school players are often regulated to the bench despite our talent or potential. However, the Next Gen tournament in May 2014 was different because it was only opened to high school children and this year was my year to burst on the scene since I was captain. I felt ready since our last year’s high school tournament where we lost in the first round to the eventual champions.
My team on paper, I believe to this day, was a championship contending team. We had four giants, one deadeye shooter, one bruiser, two role players, my best friend Joel who is a great all-around player, and myself who can carry the team on my back undoubtedly. However, this team had potential but needed work and I as captain began practices in late January despite the snow and cold weather. This year was different from last year because for the time-being we did not have a coach. Our coach from last year, when the tournament was held in the late summer, was in the middle of his schoolwork and could not attend to the team’s needs as much. So I had to be both the captain and coach for our young team. Practices began great. There was mistakes that were expected but nothing that seemed alarmingly for a tournament five months away. I had the audacity of hope for a first place trophy after our first practice.
As the weather got warmer, I naturally expected better from my teammates. i was disappointed when I noticed that it was only Joel and myself who actually seemed interested in winning. I tried many approaches to coaching and teaching my team but to no avail. It was May 23rd, 2014, the day before the tournament and the schedules were released. We had to face three teams prior to first round and they were not easy competition. One team stood out in particular because in our first game we faced another team from Staten Island that was led by my best friend Jeff. The bragging rights was on the line. I was ready to win the tournament and I drove on the 24th hoping my teammates were as well.
They were not. We did not win a game that day. I consider myself as a person of controlled emotions. I had to leave during the tournament that day to not lose it completely in front of everyone. I never felt like such a disappointment and I never felt so embarrassed and angered and empty. I know it’s just basketball and I had to tell myself that repeatedly every time I picked up a ball after the tournament. I questioned myself, is ball really life? I wrote this monologue because for one, I had to, and also, because I’ve been wanting to express my feelings toward this day for months. In my first time as a captain and a coach, I drove my team to failure despite my scoring performance and individual five month long effort. I’ve been told many times that it wasn’t my fault, and maybe it was, but I personally feel that failure is how people can grow as successful human beings, so after this massive disappointment, the road to success can surely be around the corner, right?