Second Place: “Leveling Up” by Zisi Blade
Zisi Blade of The Thomas More School (CT) on a fast break
The sounds of a bouncing ball echoed down from the basketball courts at Crispus Attucks Park. I added my own ball to the beat as I jogged across the playground to the steps leading up to the court. I had hoped to join a game, but I didn’t see any kids playing. I put up a few shots at one of the unoccupied baskets. However, I came to the courts to play, so I went to watch the men hoop. The teams consisted of guys from around the neighborhood. I stood on the sideline and watched the action with my neighbor Kojo. When he asked me why I wasn’t in the game, I smiled sheepishly. I had only seen kids hooping with kids, adults hooping with adults. But Kojo thought otherwise, announcing to the group, “young fella got next.” I chose my team and the game began. I realized that this game was unlike any sport I had played: every sequence is an opportunity to shape the narrative.
I was introduced to basketball at the age of nine. My brothers and I were too young to go to the park on our own and we didn’t have a hoop in our backyard. We improvised by cutting out the bottom of a plastic flower pot and tying it to the deck to create a makeshift basketball hoop. We barely had enough space to play on that narrow strip of pavement, especially when our friends came over, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. My parents eventually bought us an actual hoop after the pot broke from us dunking on it too much.
I remember watching the NBA Finals in 2015. I could watch the games in Cleveland, but not the ones in Oakland because they ended past my bedtime. Early the next morning, I would rush to turn on SportsCenter so I could see what happened last night. The players on the television seemed to effortlessly drain shot after shot; I was awestruck. That day at school, I asked one of the custodians “how come pros don’t miss?” I realized later that I had been watching highlights.
When I was thirteen, I started training after school in a program called Claver Community Basketball. After training for a couple months, I joined the 13U team of the Brooklyn Kings. I was tall for my age, but I had no organized basketball experience so I had to learn on the fly. Over the next two years I became one of the most valuable players on my team. In August 2017, my team ended up winning our last tournament of the summer and I received tournament MVP. The finals was my last game before I attended the Waldorf School of Garden City for high school; I was stoked for what the future held.
After my freshman season, I made the 15U team of New Heights NYC. I had been practicing with them for a month, when I received a call from the assistant coach. He said my son had been cut from the team because a player they had promised a roster spot to before the tryout had returned from injury. I realized he had called me by mistake, but I was too stunned to say anything except “ok thanks” and hung up. This moment birthed a fear of the opportunity to play being denied to me. A fear that if I fail to perform my coaches will decide that it’s not worth playing me anymore and that I won’t move on to the next level as a result. I averaged over twenty points per game in my sophomore season, but despite my success I felt insecure. Every time I struggled, I would think “how am I going to compete in AAU, where the competition is even fiercer, if I’m struggling here?” To this day, I can honestly say it motivates me to prove that I deserve to play.
In 2019, I transferred to Christ the King High School for my junior and senior years in order to get more college exposure. A highlight of my junior season was our 65-61 overtime win against Archbishop Stepinac on ESPN. The entire student body was in the stands. Cameras followed our every move and our classmates celebrated every basket. I remember hitting a three early and feeling like I was bounding on the moon when I ran back on defense. Late in the game, I set a screen for my teammate on the wing, but instead of using the screen he pulled back for three. I turned my head to watch the ball as it flew toward the rim and swished through the net. The shot put us up two and our student’s section went bananas.
In March 2020, my AAU season was canceled in response to COVID-19. Although I maintained my grades and achieved the SAT scores I had worked hard for, it was very devastating to see my athletic recruitment opportunities evaporating over the next two years. In consultation with my family and coach, I decided to do a postgraduate year at Saint Thomas More School, where I could remain on track academically while giving myself another chance to be recruited by colleges.
In my year at STM, Coach Quinn has prepared me for the pursuit of perfection that is demanded at the college level. Going to boarding school has taught me about being independent and how it will be like living away from home. I am committed to play college basketball at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a two for four academic scholarship. I have leveled up.