Basketball - Do you really have to be 6ft?
I can see the hoop looming over me, making me feel so small. Looking at the ball in my hand and glancing at the hoop, I was beginning to have second thoughts...
My name's Libby and I want to start playing basketball. Problem is..I'm only five foot high.
I only really got interested in basketball about a month ago when I went to a Leicester Riders game with my friend. If I'm totally honest, I was expecting to be bored but I was pleasantly suprised. As soon as the game started I felt completely connected to the Riders ; the atmosphere was amazing..fans were cheering non stop the entire game. And before long, I was one of those fans cheering, singing and getting well and truly enthralled within the game. After the match I spoke to a one of the players (to make me feel even smaller..he was just over 7 foot high) and I commented on how he good he was (can't go wrong with flattery) and how I'd like to start playing basketball but I would feel such an idiot because I'm so small. What he said to me after that stuck in my head..
"Let nothing and no-one stand in your way, use it to your advantage, believe in yourself and you CAN do it."
And in the car home, I decided right there and then. I was going to start playing basketball..and I was going to have to start from the basics.
When I told my mother, she just laughed at me due to my size. I told my friends, they also laughed at me and said sly comments aboutmy height, saying I would need some stilts. But I wasn't going to let that phase me. The players words echoed in my mind...
So yes, I was faced with a hoop at least 4 foot above my head and I had NO idea how on earth I was going to get the ball through it! Aiming had never been a strong point in sports for me. My 'teacher' started the lesson by showing me the basics, how to stand properly, how not to 'travel' with the ball (basically travelling is when you run without bouncing the ball..) and how aiming the ball is all in the flick of your wrist. He showed me himself how to aim and get it through *easy for you, I thought, you're over a foot higher than me and had several years more experience* but then he passed the ball to me.
I aimed..
I flicked my wrist..
AND MISSED!
I tried again, this time getting it at least a little closer to the hoop. Third time lucky, I thought, and taking my time I judged the distance carefully..flicked my wrist and watched the ball flying closer to the hoop..like the slow motion shot in a film for the last basket..and finally YES! It went straight through! I felt so proud of myself, in just 20 minutes I had actually 'scored' a basket. Through that one shot such a rush of feelings cascaded through me, it was actually an emotional moment for me. If all sports players felt like this everytime they scored..how could they bear to retire? I can't describe the feeling as anything but amazing!
Now, I'm having basketball lessons every week and I can definately see an improvement..I'm no longer the girl thats a 'shorty', I'm respected because I can aim my shots and usually get them through.
It shouldn't matter what height, weight, ethnicity, sexuality, alien or whatever you are, nothing and no-one should EVER get in the way of achieving your dreams, because you CAN do it.
