For as long as I can remember, basketball has been a huge part of my life. My dad played in high school at Bellaire in Houston, and me and my two brothers have played for most of our lives.

My plan going into high school was to play basketball all four years, no question about it. My entire goal in life was to have that letterman jacket for playing varsity ball. For the first three years of high school, it was my life. All my friends played basketball, all my time was spent either keeping up with school work or practicing, whether it be for school or club. All my family talked about or watched was basketball. Over the summers instead of sleeping in late or binge-watching Netflix 24/7, I was waking up at 7:15 a.m. every day to go condition at school for two hours, taking summer school classes to make sure I had space in my schedule for basketball, or going to tournaments around North Texas.

But my junior year was different. I had always possessed the attitude that I could do it all. I was taking several AP classes, going to practice at 6:45 a.m., and staying at away games until late while still being involved in church and participating in extracurriculars and academic UIL. And I was really tired.

I was getting no sleep. I was dealing with recurring ankle injuries from basketball. I was worn down, and I couldn’t imagine doing it all over again senior year, especially with five AP classes on my schedule and being President of NHS and Junior Frisco Women’s League.

So, I decided to stop playing. It wasn’t an easy decision in the slightest. I could tell my dad was disappointed, my brothers didn’t understand it all, and I had never even experienced going to a first period class before. And most importantly, I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without it. Would I lose my friends? What would I talk about with my family? What would I do over the summer? How was I going to stay in shape without Coach Reedy yelling at me? These doubts were very, very real, but I made the decision to be responsible and focus on school and college.

Now that the girls are headed to state, I do feel a twinge of regret. I was standing on the sideline shooting for Wingspan when the buzzer went off at the regional final game, watching as the girls realized they were going to state. And for just half a second I thought, that could be me. I could have been one of the seniors headed to the state tournament.

But then I realized how flawed that thought was. These girls have put in a year of work that I didn’t. Coming in at 6:45 a.m. to practice, running sprints, being sore 24/7, missing school for tournaments and games, all things that I let go of so I could focus on other things. I don’t regret my choice, because it’s opened up my life to a lot of other great things, the greatest thing being Wingspan.

I’m still involved with basketball, and it is still a huge part of my life, the only difference is that now instead of playing, I’m on the sideline taking pictures, shooting video, and giving the girls the coverage I think they deserve. So I’ll watch and cheer as loud as I possibly can at the state tournament, knowing that I made the right choice.