By Nikolas Kanellakis & Konstantinos Vlaxos Diakakis

           Since 2nd grade, basketball has been a large part of our time. We are now in the first year of Senior-High School and basketball has majorly worked our experience for the time. It has helped in making us the individuals we are today. We are convinced that, even if you do another sport type (that does not include a ball), it has had a huge effect on your life and options, too. Here are four ways in which basketball has positively affected us:

1. It has helped us get life-long acquaintances with mates and managers.
2. It has offered us mentors who have helped make us the sort of person we are.
3. It has given us chances to get to know people we could never have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.
4. We have met some of our greatest friends through basketball, for which we will always be thankful for.

To get out of the difficult situations in life, you need something that is bigger than you, you need something to believe in; for us, it was basketball. Basketball saved our life, allowed us to compete, to improve ourselves and understand life. Through this sport we understood who God was, better than we did in church. Church taught us what was right and wrong, basketball taught us faith. It means everything to us. Additionally, playing basketball teaches you many other values and principles that you cannot even imagine. In the sport of basketball, you cannot succeed unless you believe in yourself and your teammates. It is this belief that gives you confidence.  You must believe you will make that crucial free throw or make the buzzer-beater, which will make you win the game.  That is the first step to move forward. Similarly in life, you must believe in yourself. You must have faith in your abilities. Without this belief and faith in your capabilities, you cannot be successful or happy. In order to balance sports and other activities, you have to make certain sacrifices. This, for us, would mean cutting down on leisure so that we can balance studies and sport. A lot of time management is involved here, too. In life as well, nothing worth having comes easy. Sacrifices need to be made at every step in order to achieve what you aspire to. Through sports, you learn how to do this and how to utilize your time for your greater good. Last but not least, Through sports you learn to respect – your coach, your teammates, the referee and even your opponents. You learn to acknowledge that sometimes your opponent might be better. You learn that without respect, winning doesn’t mean anything. You learn to never put another player down. In life, without respecting others you cannot get anywhere. Strong people never put others down; they lift them up. Basketball teaches you just that. So, we believe that basketball cultivates many other aspects that are very essential for every person in his life.