The day of the tryouts I wore my old indoor soccer shoes, because I didn’t have basketball shoes, and I wore my soccer jersey with my lucky number 22 printed on the back. I didn’t even play basketball, I was just there because my friends were. The coaches were probably thinking like who the heck is this kid, did he show up to the wrong tryout. And then they took a second look and were like wait a second this kid is a foot taller than everyone here. The coaches had us line up and they took attendance to see who was there and they assigned us tryout numbers. I got number 23. Then the drills started. I could dribble, make layups, and rebound. Anything outside the free throw line was luck. But compared to some of the other kids I was actually looking good. The coach, coach McDougall, said,” Line up everyone were doing sprints.” I am probably the fastest kid I know, not to be cocky or anything, but it’s true. And I finished first each time, no sweat, which was easy for a kid that plays soccer and runs all the time.

The second day instead of having my hopes set for the “B” team, I was hoping to make the “A” team. Instead of doing all the drills from day one we did scrimmages almost the whole time. The problem was that I had an orchestra performance so I had to miss half of the tryout. This wasn’t good because the coaches wouldn’t get to see everything I could do in just a half hour.

The last day of tryouts had finally come. This was the day that the coaches took us out in the hallway and talked to us individually. So we lined up against the lockers and sat. Nobody made a noise. The silence made it even more terrifying. Had I done enough, could I have done more, these questions were going off in my head. The coaches started taking kids one at a time to tell them whether or not they made it. I was in the middle of the line so I would probably be sitting there for a half hour or longer. People start talking a little so that it’s not completely silent.

I was two people away from the start of the line. I tried to stay positive but I kept thinking about all the people that are better than me. The kid in front of me got called which makes me next in line. I tried to stay calm but I couldn't. I heard my name called and I started walking toward the locker room which was where the coaches were. “Have a seat,” coach McDougall said. I didn't say anything, I just wanted to know the results. “Cameron, you have tried very hard the last few days,” he paused for a second leaving me in suspense, “and you are going to be on my team.” He continued on but I have no idea what he said because I was so relieved that I couldn’t pay attention. Then he gave me a sheet that listed the practice times and he called the next name.
The treasure that I got from trying out for the team and making it was that I got to be with all my friends after school each day, and I became friends with all of the people that I didn’t know.