For the Love of The Game
This is a profile on one of my classmates, Tyrese about basketball and how it helped him figure out what he wants to do.
Growing up, we look up to those who seem unstoppable. They may be astronauts, doctors, or famous athletes. These people seem to have it all, the money, girls, and fame. Our role models seem like they are perfect and make us feel like we should strive to be that great. But what if a role model did not have to seem so godly? What if the role model could be right there next to you showing you how to be like them instead of just preaching without action? I was once a young boy doing sports camps and when the older group would walk by swinging their baseball bats with such ease, it made me want to be just like them. I am not sure what it is that makes us boys yearn to be like “the older boys” but from a young age we gravitate to them. I remember wishing that one of them would show me the ropes, show me how to be just like him, being able to swing that bat or throw that ball as far as “he” can. I felt, for even just a moment, that I was as powerful as my role model. The ability to be that older boy and show the younger boys the ropes is truly something that needs to be done. You have the opportunity to be someone's role model, to show them “how it’s done.” And for Tyrese, he seized this opportunity early.
Tyrese was on the basketball team at his high school for all four years. Everyone in the crowd knew who he was because of how he towered over his opponents. He was a local legend to the kids from the surrounding area. They would beg their parents to let them watch him in his games. When he would go back home to his neighborhood he would have a crowd of little fans running around him asking him, “Tyrese can you teach me to play basketball,” and “Tyrese I want to play just like you.” For Tyrese this was an opportunity he had to take. He took these young fans under his wing, brought them to the local court, and began to show them the basics. He would start with dribbling, demonstrating how to handle the ball efficiently. Then he would move onto passing and how to move the ball smoothly down the court. Finally he would demonstrate how to shoot. He started with how to hold the ball and then how to release it. It was funny listening to him tell me about some of the kid’s antics. One of them decided he was going to dribble with his head instead of his hands and Tyrese had to hold back laughter as he helped him dribble correctly. He said that helping these kids learn from him made him fall in love with sports and helping people continue to play. Having helped young athletes continue to play basketball, Tyrese then thought about how he could turn this passion into a lifetime career.
Helping others out feels good, but helping others continue to do what they love surpases this feeling. Tyrese was not sure where to start. Being only eighteen how could he get involved with the world of physical therapy? He would not be allowed to apply for this job, being that he has no experience or years of schooling necessary for this field and the only other way to see therapy being done is to be the one who requires it. He didn’t want to use that route. So he decided to walk to his local library and start researching a little bit about physical therapy. Tyrese had browsed around for resources on physical therapy and books on training athletes. He read about the different leg injuries that a basketball player could get and studied how to treat it so the player could get back out on the court. As he flipped through the pages he saw diagrams of torn ACL’s, broken ankles, and torn groins. The way all the muscles and ligaments connect fascinated him, he told me during our interview. “The way the body can heal itself with the right treatment is what I think is amazing about the human body,” Tyrese explained on why he thinks physical therapy is the right field for him.
For a lot of young people entering college it can be intimidating figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life, being only eighteen after all. Tyrese, however, has already figured out what he will spend his life doing, all because of those young athletes that he helped fall in love with the sport. He will be able to continue to help people do the things they love through working in the physical therapy field. Something as small as Tyrese helping these little ones learn the ropes and watching them grow into true athletes was able to help me make the decision to become a physical trainer, who essentially does the same thing, continue to help those grow.