September 10th, 2014 | Uncategorized
I’ve had loads of fun exploring the city of Galway, but now its time to get down and dirty! It’s time to get back on my grind. I’m now off to a sqeeky clean fresh start with school, basketball, and my involvement within the community… the three reasons why I’m here in Ireland!
I started basketball practice about a week ago with the Galway Titans. The Galway Titans are a Men’s Division 1 team, playing in the National League! After going to a few practices, I realized that the team was much better than I was expecting, based off what I heard. Playing basketball in Ireland has given me the opportunity to rekidle my love for the actual game of basketball. After playing four years college basketball in the states, it became more of a demanding job, rather than playing for the love of the game. Now we practice two times a week, and I have enjoyed every single moment of it! Playing in Ireland has taught me how to love the game of basketball again, the sport that has brought me to where I am today.
I also started school this Monday. I have not been this excited to start school since my senior year of high school! I woke up two hours before I needed to be in class, eager to see what a MASTERS course would be like. Nobody in my family has obtained their masters yet, so this has been a big deal to me and my family. I didn’t know what to expect going in, but after going to a few classes I have realized that it definitely won’t be a walk in the park. That’s okay though, because I was born to take the challenge!
I saved the best for last. Community involvement. I started to coach the U16 Galway Titans on Saturday. It was definitely an eye opening experience! I got the opportunity to coach them for a two hour practice. I didn’t realize how much hard work actually goes into coachinig a team (shoutout to all the coaches out there puttin’ in that work)! It took much more time and effort preparing and revising the schedule than I thought so that practice would go as smooth as possible. Now I’m able to see why coaches get mad when things arn’t going smoothly. LOL. Along with coaching I have also coached a few camps. I was a little scared when I got thrown in the gym with 30 kids all to myself and had to coach them for 2 hours, but I managed to make the best of it and more importantly, the kids loved my session plan! I had so much fun coaching! I always look forward to coaching because I know in one way or another, they’ll manage to put a smile on my face. Playing basketball with them gives me an outlet to all the hard work I’ve been doing in the classroom all week, so I coach it up to the fullest!
To recap the week, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Basketball, school, and my community work has started and I am happy with all of it! I am truely blessed beyond words!
