Breakup Letter 

Dear Maumee basketball, 

In my middle school years I loved the fast pace of the game and the adrenaline it leaves you feeling. It was a great time to spend with friends in the winter months. The coaches I had in middle school and freshman year were people I highly look up to and appreciate. When I used to think of basketball the first thoughts that came to my mind were enjoyable and a challenge worth accepting. Now that sophomore year has been completed and going into junior year, basketball has become nothing more than a burden and toxic environment. 

I know how it sounds, everyone has their toxic people in their lives and you learn to deal with them. The environment for the Maumee basketball team is a whole new level of toxicity. All anyone cares about is their egos. I am beyond fed up with no one taking practice anywhere near serious. Having half of the team being ineligible because they don't take their school work seriously so it screws the people who do care over with the lack of people able to practice/play. Why should I work hard everyday in the classroom if no one else cares enough to do the same? It should be everyone that works hard in the classroom to get their work done, not just a select few. 

The pure frustration I feel going from a winning record volleyball team to a losing basketball team every single year. The only difference, let me tell you, is straight up work ethic. Practices must be a social hour because it feels more like laughs and jokes rather than playing and getting better. Apparently no one else feels the pure embarrassment when we get beat by 40 points every game. It gets very tiring, watching some work really hard every day while others do not.

The long hours that are involved in the sport are nothing really more than a weight dragging me down with the time I also put into my club volleyball every week. The 5 hour practices between the two, twice a week are just not okay anymore. Volleyball will always be

main sport, and basketball now is just a sport to keep me in shape. I’ve come to realize that I can do that exact thing in my own way without it taking up 3 hours of each and every day. 

To sum it up, I just really can not be a part of the environment anymore. The time I spend trying to make myself better while others don’t is a waste. Plus, the hours I already have with volleyball. I just do not see any reason to keep coming back when no one takes it seriously. Therefore, I will not be returning to play basketball anymore.