During my freshman year of high school, I walked into my first summer league basketball practice in a cast due to a leg injury. But when the winter season came around I was cleared to play. During that year, we won the school’s first SVC championship for girls basketball since the 1990-1991 season.
My sophomore year of high school came around and basketball continued to roll in the same direction as the previous year. That year, we had two players reach the 1,000-point mark within the first couple of games. That season was a perfect season, resulting in the SVC Gold Ball, which was the first one for a girls basketball team at Southeastern since 1985-1986.
During my junior year of high school, last season, our record was still climbing. We had a total of seven graduating seniors on our team. Out of those seven seniors, five were starters and were valuable assets to the team. The class of 2018 seniors, along with the 2017 seniors and coaching staff, set many records and raised the bar high for the underclassmen.
As a senior varsity girls basketball player, I have now been on each end of the winning and losing bracket. I have experienced the highs, along with the lows, with learning experiences every time along the way.
There are fourteen girls on this year’s team, only five returning lettermen, and one out due to an injury. This season has been a learning lesson, and we continue to grow and not give up. We’re just starting our second half of the season, our record is at 5-13.
We are looking forward to increasing our number of wins.
When I walk onto the court at Larry Jordan Gymnasium for one of my last times, all I can do is soak in all the great memories that have taken place right there on that court. As I reflect on everything that I have been taught, there are a few lessons that I have learned while standing there.
The biggest one that comes to mind is, “To change is good.”
You cannot always win, nor can you always lose.
The best thing you can do is go in with a positive attitude and give it your best shot. If you were to look at our locker room door, you’d see a poster.
On that poster there is a quote that says, “Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become, and the hours of practice, and the coaches who pushed you, is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back. Play for her tonight!”
Not only do I plan on using these lessons in my athletic career, but also in my future career.
— Kennedy Smith, Southeastern senior