Basketball can not only be defined as a sport, but also as something that evolves players into upstanding individuals. Basketball allows people to grow their character, improve their academics, and reach goals. It is a high-performance sport that requires players to have great physical endurance. It also is extremely helpful to have a strong desire to be great players on the court. Playing basketball improves both the mental and physical aspects of the person. Senior Angel Diaz, stated, “basketball improves my mentality to stay positive and to not quit when the work gets hard. It also improves me physically because it is an amazing workout running up and down the court, especially when you are very competitive like myself, it pushes me to get back down the court to play defense even if my body is giving up on me.” The way in which basketball encourages the boys to stay positive is how they are pushed to be the best player that they can possibly be.

Basketball has the power to become a leveling agent in the lives of the players. Coach Gorney stated, “The boys managing basketball and other aspects of their lives such as academics, goals and relationships with others are difficult but it becomes their commitment and responsibility.” The amount of time that has to be put into basketball helps the boys become better individuals because the players learn to manage their time more efficiently.

Basketball encourages players to make great strides toward becoming success. When the players first started playing basketball, many were not immediately good at it, but they continue making strong effort through practice. They prepare for every game which helps put them on a path toward reaching success. According to one of the players, “basketball can always put me in a good mood and makes me feel good about myself. [It] helps me forget about my problems.” For certain individuals, basketball is just a sport that they enjoy playing; however, for others, basketball is a form of a coping mechanism.

– Yuzhen Liang