by Kyle Freeman

I was talking to my parents the other day about the number of the years that I have been playing basketball. We were all laughing about the fact that I started when I was four years old. I have now been playing for eleven years.

My mom remembers my first game. She said I used to do more running with the ball back then instead of dribbling it. She says I would just pick the ball up, start running, and look out if anyone was in my way. One way or other I was going to get that ball down the other end of the court and try to score a basket.

I can still remember today how excited I was the day they handed out our uniforms. When I think about it now it was really just a T-shirt and a pair of shorts but the shirt had a number on it. Number 10. I could not wait to put that shirt on. My dad says that I was taking my own shirt off while the coach was taking the uniforms out of the bag. I wore that uniform home after practice and slept in it. My mom said she had a difficult time with me in the morning. I of course wanted to wear it to school. She let me wear the shirt under my regular shirt. We all were again laughing because some how my regular shirt got dirty that day and I had to take it off. I wonder how that happened...

It has been a long journey filled with many hours of hard work. We have done a lot of traveling because of basketball, met a lot of wonderful people and taken mile and mile of film of my games. My parents have been so supportive and encouraging to me and I really appreciate it. I know that the Lord has blessed me with the gift of athletics and I pray that I stay humble and always give thanks to Him for any success that I achieve.

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