Coming of age (rough draft)

It was the fourth quarter one minute remaining, and I was alone on defense. I needed to get the ball back from the opposing team. He sprinted down court heading dierectly towards me. I was timing his footsteps waiting for him to jump and score. As soon as he jumped I jumped with him while I stuck my elbow near his chest where the refree couldn't see. Sticking my elbow into him to hold him down I came for the block to push him down. We won and I just ignored the player struggling to get up.

It was another game and a new team. I had been stealing the ball from the players that were shorter than me. I would grab the ball from them knocking them down as if they were traffic cones. When we challenged another team and lost I would swipe my hand away from the other team to avoid shaking their hand. When we won I would be cheering and brag to the other team about how we won. I didn't care about the other teams or how they felt.

Walking onto the court looking at the other team. The opposing team was way bigger than us some players were around six feet tall. At the start of the game I felt small getting pushed around by these bigger kids. I was getting frustrated at the players and even their parents that were shouting, and laughing at us to put us down. I was so angry so I ran down court and grabbed the player and tried to steel the ball from him. The official blew the whistle then immediatly after the kid turns around and punches me dierectly in my stomach. The official broke us up then the gym became silent. The coordinater of the league walked on the court and gave me and the player a lecture about sportsmanship to realize that this is only a game. I looked at the kids face and he looked angry. After the coordinater was done I held out my hand to shake the opponents hand. We were both sent back to our benches, as I was walking back my vision became blurry then I started crying.

It was a new night and the first game since the incident. I was distracted thinking about what the coordinater said. We started the game and in the second quarter I knocked a kid down, but I didn't push him on purpose I tried to go for the steal. When the official blew the whistle then I turned around and helped the boy up. When we lost that game I shook the players hand saying "good game" or complimenting them on The things they did well at.

No matter how much it burned me inside to hurt the other team I was able to control my temper and just play. The games were much easier now I had fun when I played and I eventually met new people and made friends. I was very calm and I didn't pick on shorter kids I challenged kids on the team that were my height. It wasn't hard controlling my anger any more I could just play without hurting anyone, but I still keep what the coordinater said to me and the pain I felt when getting pushed around to remind me to be considerate.