How we prepare for a game:

In practice, we shoot about 300- 500 shots individually. Practice consists of an hour to an hour and a half of conditioning and drills. We do sprinting up and down the court and from side to side of the basketball court. We also have ball handling drills, 5 on 5 matches, etc…

We also go over scouting reports that our coaches make. This is one of our biggest strengths. The scouting report talks about the opponent’s offense, defense, and includes individual reports about their skill set. Players need to read these. The coaches watch videos of the other team for hours to make these reports.

My personal experience on the team and how they impacted me:

Basketball taught me many different things, from as little as being on time for practice to how we are supposed to represent Christ through basketball. Basketball is like a small workplace in the future; I need to be responsible, and compete with other people.

There are ups and downs, but we can’t just quit when the team is down. We learn to be good teammates in basketball. We call the team a “family” because no matter what happens, we are brothers in Christ. We all have the same goals and we are accountable to each other. We offer our hands to our brothers when a teammate is struggling. It is wonderful that we can be a family through God’s grace.

The most important thing I have learned is that the “ball is never life”. It’s so easy for players to worship or be overly obsessed with basketball. But rather, we need to use basketball as a platform to glorify God. Our school athletics remind us of this with the school athletic verse, 1 Corinthians 10: “so, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Prof. Tom Allen goes the extra step and does devotions with the team before practices and games. He helps us bond with each other and reminds us of the purpose of playing basketball.

The team and I wouldn’t be here if my coaches didn’t work hard in the program. Coach Jason wants to create a community with the student body and basketball. He wants the student body to come enjoy the sport of basketball. He also wants to create a basketball program that will matter after we are done playing basketball.

I want to say thanks to all the supporters.

God bless

Seil Park