7th Grade Basketball - From Two Perspectives

Alex: This is when I began basketball on the 7th grade team. I needed a good social outlet, so I chose to join the team and, pardon the pun, give it a shot. The practices were right after school, and would normally last until around 5pm. The first two weeks were all practices, and you needed 10 to play in the first game, which I think was in the 3rd week of basketball, if not the 4th. Our coach had a huge impact on my life, and was probably the reason why I made it through 7th grade. If I hadn't joined the team, and if he hadn't have been our coach, then I don't know where I would be today, as I had just undergone a tough time, moving from across the United States to a place where I didn't know anybody, and didn't know anything. It was tough. But thanks to our coach, It got easier. He was the most influential person in my life during 7th grade, and he remains an influential person to me today. Seriously, I can't thank him enough. Not only did he teach our team basketball, he taught us amazing values and skills any person should have. He taught us to keep going, and to give it our absolute best. He also taught us to have a good heart and keep good sportsmanship before, during, and after the game. He helped model us into a real team.

Herbie: A young boy walked over a frost covered ground, the sky was gray and his thoughts were clouded. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and basketball shorts. He went into his garage and grabbed his basketball, and then went through his daily routine of shooting into a plastic bucket he used for a hoop. He had nailed it onto the side of his garage and to him it was the same as any other hoop, only the ball just barely fit into it. He liked basketball but had never really played on a team and had rarely played with anyone at all. He was small, even for a seventh grader, and had always thought of himself too short to play basketball. Then one day he got a call from a man named Chuck Todd, Chuck told him how he would like to have him on the team. The boy thought about it for a long time and decided he would give basketball a try. He practiced as hard as he could and Coach Chuck Todd ran the players hard, and encouraged them all to try hard and never give up. When the first game came, to the boys surprise he had made the starting line-up for the seventh grade squad. He was one of the shortest kids in middle school but he played tough because Chuck Todd had taught him how to use his strengths to make up for his weaknesses. His dribbling was below average, but his passing was good. His offense was not very good, but his defense was very good. Thanks to Chuck Todd the boy learned more than just how to play basketball, he learned how things are in life. He learned that you can’t be the best at everything, but if you try hard enough you can do almost anything. The boy was me, Herbie Sisson over three years ago, in the winter of 2008. Much has changed since that first season of basketball, but it will be in my memories forever. Thank you Chuck Todd.

So, from both of us to you; thank you so much Chuck.

You'll always be in our lives as an extremely influential person.

Sincerely,

Alex Grantham & Herbie Sisson

~The Blue Rabbit