The Game of Love and Hate

Juliette Gelinas

She loved the game. She loved the players and the experience. The fun they had and the laughs they shared. She loved the atmosphere, and how her teammates would always pick her up when she fell. She loved the feeling of winning a big game, or hitting a three. She loved hearing the crowd cheer and applaud for her. She loved the away games. The late night bus rides and stopping for food. Making jokes with her friends the whole way back. The thing she loved most was the friends she’d met and the memories they’d made.

But she hated the sport. She hated the coach, and his negative attitude. She hated the pressure and the expectations, which she never quite seemed to meet. She hated the fact that she never was good enough. She hated losing game after game, even after she had worked so hard. She hated the nervousness she would get before each game. The feeling that made her sick to her stomach. She hated bad plays, and airballs. She hated the practices. The constant conditioning and drills. But most of all, she hated failure. She hated how she wasn’t perfect. How she couldn’t make every shot. How everyone was always so much better. She hated all these things, so she quit.