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My Basketball Team

by Eleanor Bailey

I have played on a Special Olympics basketball team for people with disabilities for four years.  This year we started practice in January.  We practice on Friday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. We have a regional tournament and a state tournament.

            Katie, Chloe, Missy, Chrissie, Holly and another girl are my teammates.  Chris is my coaches. At practice, we work on dribbling and shooting hoops. We work on passing the ball. We practice dribbling around the coaches who are trying to defend us. We try to shoot over the coaches even though they try to steal the ball from us.  We try to work as a team by passing the ball.

            I have become a better basketball player over the four years.  In school I work on basketball in PE.  I learned to bounce the ball with my fingertips and to keep the ball at a lower height near my hips.  I learned how to do chest passes.  I worked on passing skills and catching skills. Before, I couldn’t catch very well, but now I can catch the ball no matter where the ball is.

When I was younger, I couldn’t make baskets because I couldn’t get the ball up high enough and I didn’t stand close enough to the basket.  But, now I am better at it. Now I shoot the ball higher. When I miss, the ball bounces off the rim but I am getting it up high enough.  Sometimes the ball hits the rim, circles around the rim and then falls through the basket!

            My favorite part of my basketball team is making friends. I am comfortable playing with kids with disabilities and I can make friends with them.  I enjoy my coaches.  Getting exercise is also fun, too.

            Now I am looking forward to playing in the State Tournament.

Eleanor is a proud member of the KASA Youth Information, Training and Resource Center Task Force.