Former Division I Women’s Basketball Player
-Anonymous
I would describe my overall experience as a student-athlete as memorable. When I was a student-athlete, all I did was play basketball and go to school. I was in the gym all the time! I even dated in the gym. I went to a small division I college, so I knew that although, I planned to play after college, I didn’t know if I would actually play further than college, but I did know I had the potential. At my college, I was the all-time leading scorer and currently still hold the record, but even with all of that, I did not have the best experiences with my coaches.
I had great rapport with my coach that initially recruited me and although I respected him as a coach, he started a player over me and it was not because she was better than me…When he departed, the assistant coach at the time took over as an interim head coach. She and I were always on the same page, so in the first game she coached, which the former coach was still in attendance, I started. From then on out, I was a starter. At the end of my Freshman year, during the conference finals, I scored my all-time high of 21 points. That motivated me to put in work over the summer and come back an even better player. I realized that I can do this every game! I was in the gym 2 times every day, sometimes 3 for the entire summer. I came back to school my sophomore year and averaged 20 points. Other schools started to recognize that I was a good player. Other schools were not allowed to talk to me directly but would talk to my affiliates in order to communicate their interest in me. My Junior year, I considered one particular school where my sister played; a larger Division I school. In the middle of my junior year season, I contemplated transferring to the larger Division I. At that time I lost the respect and the trust from my head coach. I was not trying to hurt anyone but did understand that basketball in college was a business and I wanted to further my career at one of the top schools in California, near family, where I could obtain a respectable education. I never had the intentions to do anything to hurt anyone.
Once I communicated that I wanted to transfer, things fell off with my head coach, completely…When I returned and wanted to show my commitment to the team, she didn’t start me. The coach had me make up 12 practices to earn my way back on the team (one practice was equivalent to 25 suicides in 25 minutes). On top of that, I had to make 5000 shots. It took me about 5 days to make up 12 practices and 5000 shots. I missed a game because I was still making up practices. The first game back, I didn’t start. She didn’t speak to me for the remainder of the season. The only time that she would communicate with me was when she was upset. One of my most memorable moments with my coach and her attitude towards me was at a game that one of my best friends and some of my family were able to attend. I started and played the first 17 minutes of the 20-minute half, as usual, started the second half, played about 3.5 minutes, then she took me out and didn’t say anything to me for the rest of the game…I sat on the bench…I sat there until the game ended and we went to the locker room.
In the locker room she says to me, “Did you forget the play, or do you not like [Says Teammate’s name]?” I just didn’t respond. She asked me again. I looked around in disbelief. She asked again…I told her, “Yes, I know the play.” She told me to come up and draw it on the board in front of everyone. I went up to the board and drew the play (all straight angry lines). Put the pen down. After I drew it she said, “So you know the play. You must just not like your teammate…” I looked at my teammate again and shook my head. We lost that game that day and she made it seem like it was all because I did not make one play…We got off our bus and go to our rooms. We had to get up at 3am to catch our flight back home the next day…We make our way to the bus in the morning and before we get on, the head coach pulled me aside and said, “If I could redo yesterday’s game, I would have put you back in with 8 or 5 minutes left.” [LOL]
Every practice and game after that was just difficult. Every practice following, she tried to find something to critique me on. I tried to make it as hard as possible for her to find something to use about me for negative examples and used that negative energy to push myself to be better every single day.
There was a girl who followed me, who came the year after I left. My coach coached her a majority of the time she was there. She tried as hard as she could to make that girl the all-time leading scorer and until this day, I still hold the record. Do not get me wrong, the player I am referring to was a great player and I love her, I just found it interesting how she did everything in her power to make some players great, and did the exact opposite for me. After college, I played overseas in Iceland and ended my professional journey sooner than planned due to an injury.
To bring it all back around, life after sports for me is best described as memorable. I learned a lot from competing and dealing with the leaders I dealt with. I am currently married to my best friend and expecting my first child. In the business world, there is not much that phases me. I learned to be resilient, motivated, and unbreakable. After I hurt my knee in Iceland, I went on to get my Master’s and a few other certifications to help continue growth in my career. I have been working in the healthcare field for the last 5 years and without basketball, I am not sure I would be where I am today, and the best part is, I am just getting started!