Manatee HS Girls Basketball

Nominated by: Bre Nice
What makes you a champion?
What makes a champion? It is not the trophy, It is not the talent, or even the salary, the most points, the fastest time, or the better records. It is not even being the best of the best. All of these things are just the benefits of what makes a true champion. You see, the real winners in life are those who have the courage to see the impossible, and the ones who have the strength to survive and conquer.
They are the people who overcome and persevere through all adversity. They learn from their mistakes, and no matter what, they never give up on their dreams. A true champion has heart… Heart is something that you must have to be a champion. Not only heart for the feeling of winning but heart for the game you play. When you play a game and you give it everything you have and there’s nothing left to give, and you come up short of the win. It hurts. It hurts bad, like someone kicking you down after growing so much. You start to feel the love of the game.. You would want to play more and more, and get better and better. That is heart for the game. It’s not just something active to do on your spare time. It’s much more. Heart then leads to dedication, If your heart if fully committed then your actions will speak, and you will be completely dedicated to that sport. Like I am to basketball. In practice, It’s all business. You come there to do one thing, and one thing only. Not to play around but to get better than your opponent.
Champions always have that attitude. Practicing what you love for 3 to 4 hours is not a side job, we actually want to get better, and succeed.  It’s much more and if you have heart then you know exactly where I’m coming from. Dreams, as I learned rather quickly, do not just happen by themselves. So, I stayed late at practice quite often where I learned the true meaning of commitment. Strength training taught me self-discipline. My first three point shot showed me perseverance. My first drive taught me balance, in the most literal sense of the word, and my first injury taught me to deal with physical and emotional pain, but it also taught me how to heal. My fellow teammates on and off the court. It taught me the meaning of human compassion beyond the typical definition.
Even though you may have a dream, it may be hard to get to it. Champions have courage and the will to over come every adversity there is in life. Weather it is home problems or school issues. Champions get through it maybe not with ease but it will be conquered. I was watching ESPN and they were talking about a wrestler named Anthony Robles, the Arizona State University wrestler who defeated reigning champ Matt McDonough from Iowa State on Saturday to become national champion in the 125-pound weight class. despite of his adversity of having one leg. That shows he is a true champion, to defeat his problems and still be a winner. Even if he didn’t get first he was still a winner inside. No matter how hard people may try and push you down because of what you are or how you do things, it should never be a factor in being what you want. The best maybe? It can be done with heart and dedication. I promise. Dreams turn in to reality.
I began to see that these were lessons of life that would stay with me far beyond my days as a basketball player. It taught me that overcoming my problems in life outside the court, It is a lot like overcoming any obstacle in life. It is not about how many times you have a bad day and fall down; it is about how many times you make the choice to get up and move on, and try again. And so as I go through my basketball career, it gives much more to me than I could ever return. Its the love I have for it, dedication, and the eagerness to be a Champion. I will be a champion in life. Just wait and see.