Being very tall I’m asked on a regular basis if I play basketball. But I have to confess, it’s a sport that has simply passed me by... until now.
Having recently moved to a small town in Quebec, about six hours from the nearest large town, I’ve had to adapt a lot; a foreign language, different people, different foods but ultimately different sports. I’ve learnt to embrace the new challenges thrown at me but the one that’s taken the longest to adapt to has been the lack of sports in my village. Well, it’s not so much a lack of sports, they just don’t seem to play the ones I know and have always played. At first, this felt a little scary; I didn’t know how I was going to cope without my beloved netball or a running club for the next year. But luckily for me, I didn’t have a shortage of offers for new sports. I had soon befriended a few of the locals and they were very keen for me to try my hand at basketball. So for the first time I was going to give it a go.
I showed up in my trainers at the local sports hall not really knowing what to expect. I knew that there was a basketball and a hoop involved but apart from that my knowledge was pretty minimal. I was quickly given a short rundown of the very basic rules and then that was it, we were off! I won’t lie to you - I spent practically the entire session running from one end of the hall to the other just following everyone around. That’s not to say I didn’t have my chance, I even managed to score a point! It was my one and only shot, but quite frankly I felt like a new Michael Jordan.
OK, so I’m far from being the best, but I gave it a go! I made some great new friends and I’m finally trying the sport that everyone has always thought I should be playing. I’m excited to keep trying and I can’t wait for my next game!
Have you ever played basketball?
