You know what irritates me? When people say”She can’t she’s a girl.” In my opinion anybody can do anything if they believe in themselves and want it badly enough. It was halftime,the 2nd period just ended,we were all hot and sweaty. I wiped the sweat off my face with the palm of my hand; I sat down exhausted. My coach Rachel looked at us just started at us for a while “we are only down 12,that’s only 6 baskets! “ I know you guys can do it, get pumped and get ready to play.” “Seahawks on three Seahawks We all screamed as loud as we possibly could.” We were all determined to win. We had a point to prove to all those people who doubted us,those who thought they brought us down but really they only made us stronger.


My coach Rachel, is hardworking dedicated and one of the most determined human being on the face of the Earth. She doesn’t let us quit, and she doesn’t go easy on us like most people. She treats us all like athletes and not like “girls”. She makes us work hard and to our potential ,and if we don’t ,we better hurry up and fix ourselves. If we don’t make 10 lay-ups,run fast enough,if we goof off or if we’re not working to the best of our ability,these all lead to one thing… suicides. I dreaded them for a while; I began to start feeling like I’m going to get coach for this. In the beginning of the season I used to be one of the slowest to run suicides,and now am always within the top 5 people to finish. I realized the faster you get them done you accomplish 2 things a longer break and your coach notices you effort. To me it was worth it even the “Good job Gilbert,great hustle out there.” Made me proud and determined to run as fast as possible and find that last bit of energy and use it for my advantage.


This year was a whole new experience;when I thought last year middle school practice were dreadful, I was wrong. This year we have done workouts every Thursday;they help you get better on certain things each time that can take you from an average basketball player to a great one. To be honest I wasn’t the star basketball player since this was only my 2nd season playing,but I learned a lot. I have become better on defense especially;I used think I was good, but know I think i’m great. Coach would say“ Is Gilbert the only one who can box out?” “Don’t just reach for the ball .” The thing about basketball the key is defense. You can score and score,but if you have no defense,those points are worth nothing. In life there are obstacles along the way and you have to just keep playing defense and fight with them till they are too tired or give up. Basketball has no longer just an activity I do or just a sport ;coach Rachel helped me make it my passion,and I have a love for the game.


Rachel taught me something that I will probably use and tell my children when I’m older. “Never say I can’t” That was one of her rules in the beginning and to try your best and have fun. Whenever I would think negative thoughts in my head about a drill we did, I would remember that phrase .I’d realized I just accomplished something I thought I couldn’t do ,and I tried my best. As long as you did that ,our coach was happy. Some coaches only wanly want to win. Not my coach she would want us to win for us so we could show ourselves that we could do it. She knew we were better than other teams, but sometimes we just lost the passion or drive because we were loosing. Some of the reasons why I respect coach and admire her. She taught me a lot this year,and I hope she continues to coach us. To all those people who say” no she can’t she’s a girl”. My coach is an outstanding athlete and woman that will prove you wrong. So tell that to my coach and just see what happens. There’s no better coach to nominate for Educator of the year.