Love of the Game

When I got my placement this year, I was pretty worried that I wasn't going to be able to play basketball with anyone. Not as many people play, so the competition isn't as good as the states. I was also moving to one of the smallest cities in Korea. I didn't want to go a year without playing against anyone good.

My fears were realized. It turned out that I couldn't play against many good people. I won't really know how much my game has suffered until I go back to America. Yesterday I went to the good (okay) court to practice by myself, as I do occasionally. I realized I've played real games about 8 or 9 times since early August last year.

But I've been okay with that fact (I kind of have to be). I realized that while I'm probably a little rusty for the American speed of the game, my love of the game hasn't diminished at all. I realized this when I was proofreading an article for my middle school's English newspaper, and came across goodbyes from my basketball club students. It was hard to read because I know I have to leave them soon.

Last semester I sometimes played during lunch and after school with the students. This semester I was able to start an official basketball club every Thursday afternoon. All we do is drills and work to improve individual and team skills. In the school newspaper article I'm quoted as saying "If you just want to play games, you had better find a different club." And it's true. But the students (most of them) have loved it, and so have I.

There's a huge communication barrier, especially between me and the lower grades. I can get my point across well enough to the 3rd graders because one of the students won the English speaking contest. Despite that barrier, the students are very coachable and all seem to genuinely love the game and want to get better. I'm pretty confident that I could take almost any four of my 3rd grade students in the club into Daejeon with me, go to one of the colleges, and beat most teams in pickup.

I wish I could teach the students more, but time has run out. I'm just thankful I got to teach them at all, since I learned more about my love of the game in the process. (Today's the NBA draft by the way)