The New Team

     OMG, I am so happy it’s basketball season. I will get to play with my friends now in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade league. I had played with my teammates since fourth grade, and now that we were in sixth grade we were going to play with older kids. I walked into the Hyde cafeteria which Kennedy did not have, humph. I walked to the counter where we had to turn in my forms, and I saw my  coach, Coach Sam.

     “Hi, Coach Sam,”  I said as I walked up to him.

     “Hey,” he said back.

     “Are you going to be my coach this year?” I asked.

     ”I am coaching a younger team this year,” said my Coach. “But Jasmine, Erica, Skylar, and Maya have their own team, and they have a whole team already.”

     “But what about me?” I asked.

     ”I’ll try to get you a good coach, but you will have a different team.”

     “Oh, okay.”

     The news was devastating. I had loved being on my team with my encouraging coach and awesome teammates. We had been together as a team for two years, and now they had a new team without me. It angered me to know that I would have a brand new team with no one I knew and that that I would have a totally new coach.

~~~

     Today was my evaluation. It would determine what team I would be on and what division I would be in.  I was very nervous because I was hoping I would be on a good team. I was sweating so much, but luckily I was wearing a dri-fit shirt.

     As I entered the gym, a parent volunteer took my height and gave me a number and a jersey. I put my shoes on, and the coaches who were evaluating us said to line up, as we were divided up into odds and evens. We started with a layup drill to see our right and left handed shots, I made all my layups both left and right handed because I had practiced both hands, and then we moved on to running to see how fast we were. Since I was good at running, I was only a second behind the person who got first. Now, it was time for the shooting test, but my form was not too good because I sometimes shot with two hands. I waited patiently while other girls did their shooting test, and then it was my turn. I got on the court, wiped my sweaty, shaking hands on my shorts, and then I started. I had two minutes to make as many shots from the blocks, elbows, and free throw line. I kept going, and I ended up making most of my shots! Next we did one on one’s, where I scored most of the time with layups.

     After it was over, Coach Jamie came over. Coach Jamie was a really good coach who coached older kids, and his teams would always win. 

     He said’,”You are really good. I might consider you to be on my team.” Yes!!! Oh ya, I have a chance of getting a good coach.

     Calming myself, I replied cooly, “Thanks.”

~~~

     I was lounging comfortably on the big sofa chair in my family room, talking to my mom. She sat next to me checking her email. I was waiting to hear from the basketball league to see what  team I was on. I was really hoping I would be on Coach Jamie’s team, at least if I could not being on my old teammates’ team.

     Finally my mom said,” I got the email of what team you are on.”

     Excitedly, I took the phone and read the email. I was on Coach Jamie’s team! As I continued reading the email, I noticed I knew no one on the team. Though I was excited to have a good coach, I had this feeling of slight disappointment and sadness because I wasn’t on my team anymore and had no friends on this team.

~~~

     As I walked into the Hyde gym, I saw my team. They were all very different. Ranging from my height, five foot five to about four seven; also some were making threes and others were airballing free throws. I put on  my shoes and grabbed a ball and started shooting. Then we were all called in to huddle and we all introduced ourselves. Then my coach said,” We have to come with nicknames for everyone.” I was Barney.

     Then we started practicing. We started with a layup drill, a passing drill, a dribbling drill, and after that we did a shooting drill. At last we scrimmaged. At times, during the scrimmage, I got hit in the foot and head with the ball. I saw that some weren’t so good.
 
     At the end of practice we huddled again and did our cheer, Shooting Stars, our team name. Though I had gotten a good coach, I was disappointed that half the players hadn’t even touched a basketball before. It wasn’t really fair that really sucky people were put on a team with good, committed players.

~~~

     The game was finally here. It was time to face my old teammates at the game. My team had gotten much better than the first time we had practice. I was really hoping that we would win so my teammates would see that I had gotten much better and that I was doing well on my team.

     As I walked into the gym to meet my teammates and put my shoes on, I could see my old teammates with their new team talking and putting on their basketball shoes. I hadn’t talked to them since last season. My stomach lurched, seeing how happy they were.

     I started to put my shoes with my teammates, fidgeting with the laces because my hands were trembling.

     My teammate Ella said,” We will do just fine. We got this, Arya.” Then my coach came to us and told us to play man and told us who was in first, and I was in first.

     The game started as I jumped because I was one one of the tallest players on my team. I won because my old teammates’ team was short. As the guard on my team started to dribble, we lost the ball. We rushed back on defense, but they had already scored. This cycle kept going because one of our best guards was missing. Though she was good, she was not really committed and went to her soccer game instead. By the time it was halftime, and we were losing by fifteen points. As the game went on, we were not able to catch up. We ended up losing.

     I was very disappointed that we had lost, but my new team had done its best. Just because we had lost only this game, it didn’t mean we were horrible. I was glad that I had contributed to my team and had done my best. After today I was feeling like I finally had found a team where I belonged, where I had fun.

~~~

Epilogue

     Now a year later, joining a new basketball team had benefited me a lot.  Because of changing teams, I made good friends that I still have today, and I had improved so much since the start of the season. After the season, I continued practicing with my new team and coach in  the spring season. And now I am playing with some of my teammates in the highest league, and I am still friends with my old teammates. I have made a new set of friends and still have my old friends, too.