Basketball is simply my biggest joy in life. Playing is something that has been so therapeutic for me since I was young. So being able to continue to play even after my four years of college was something that I was really looking forward too. Playing on Tullamore’s senior women’s team I feel a certain amount of pride because these girls have been playing with this club almost their whole life. As a newcomer I really felt the need to make sure I was being not only a good representation of SCL but also their club because this is about them!
The first time I played with Tullamore we had 3 games in one day! Of course they were not 40 minute games but I have not played that many games in one day since I was 17 maybe. So that made me feel pretty old. It was weird because I felt so nervous before the first game. I felt a lot of pressure to preform well which was something I have never really went through before so it was rather odd. Yet once I got on the court it all just fell right into place and I felt at home again. We lost our first match but followed up with 2 wins after that which was amazing! They girls on the team are absolutely remarkable. They all have so much heart when they play and play hard to the very last minute which is a characteristic that you can not teach. Playing with Tullamore is honestly a blessing and I am so super excited to see where we are at the end of the season.
In between our first game and our second game we walked to go get some hot chocolate as a team and we were all able to talk and really get to know each other. Before that day we might have only practiced twice so I did not really know much about the girls. Most of the girls on our team our in their last years of what we call high school so it was fun to hear about what was going on in their lives at the time since its been so long since I was in their situations.
Overall the first game day for me wearing Tullamore’s jersey was great I so excited for more!