Perception - defines who we believe we are, how we believe our interactions with others should go, and how we believe the world should operate.
In February of 2020, I had so much on the go, in terms of my personal and professional life. I was looking forward to my days ahead because everything I'd worked so hard for was finally in motion. It was also the year where Amarion was turning 6 years old on November 15th, and by that date, I had to fulfil a promise of teaching him how to play the game of basketball. But, the very next month, March, 2020, I felt like a dead man living. The Coronavirus had affected us all. I was overwhelmed by all the lives that were lost and saddened for everyone who was drastically affected . The life we knew was on a temporary hold. So, for the entire year, I stayed inside my home like I was hibernating in a cave, waiting for the days when things went back to normal.
By the time Amarion turned 6 years old, he understood that Daddy wasn't in the right state of mind to train him...yet! He knew that our world was different and we were simply trying to survive, day by day. At that moment, the only joy in my life was being surrounded by my family of 4. Still, Amarion showed tremendous amount of interest for basketball by constantly playing NBA2k on his Nintendo Switch, watching NBA highlights on his iPad and shooting or ball handling around our home. He obviously loved basketball and he was eager to learn the game. There was no denying that.
One month after Amarion turned 7 years old, I told myself that enough was enough. No more excuses or delaying his training with Daddy. I remembered the years as a kid where I wished I had a dad who believed in my basketball dreams. I didn't want my son to experience my sentiments so I had to be the supportive dad who I strived to become. It was time to fulfill my promise to him. In the late year of 2021, our world was slowly returning back to some sort of normalcy. My wife had a business as a home baker; we bought our first home in the month of June; we welcomed our 3rd son, Alijah on July 5th; in August, I'd returned back to work at the Airport. However, I was terminated from my job by December due to the number of absences from work. Having a newborn at home, while having to be at work by 4:00 in the morning wasn't feasible for me at that time. But, that disappointing situation ignited a spark for me to pursue what I wanted to do the most, that is, to finally train my son.
Prolific Sports House Calgary, Canada - December 21, 2021
Before stepping foot on a basketball court to commence our training sessions, I had a very long conversation with Amarion about commitment, sacrifices and perseverance. I made it very clear that we will see this through, no matter what obstacles we may face along this long journey. I made a promise to him that I will not give up on him, and he promised me that he wouldn't give up neither. On top of that, I said to Amarion that nothing in life is guaranteed, because at the end of this journey, the outcome may not be in his favour. But to keep him encouraged, I assured him that there will be many valuable lessons to be learned along the way and these special bonding moments will be cherished forever. I shared with Amarion what it took for me to become a NCAA D1 basketball player, and then I asked him if he was willing to trust the process, in which he responded, I'm ready Daddy. For me, I didn't have a father in my life, so I was willing to make use of all my resources to provide the best opportunities for my son. I knew he was ready, or else, I wouldn't have wasted my time or force an agenda on him, if he wasn't showing any sort of interests. Throughout the days, Amarion showed many signs of how much he was invested in basketball. Little things such as tuning to NBA Radio whenever he sat in the front seat of our Jeep on our drives to the gym, and making little comments about wanting to train for longer hours. It was evident that he was different than other 7 year old's.
I first heard of Prolific Sports House through a friend. She'd spent me a news-story of when the facility was in the developmental stages and the struggles of opening during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Before visiting, I'd spoken to Coach Dave over a phone call. He is one of the owners and I was excited to learned that he was also a former NCAA D1 and pro basketball player. We had a great conversation and I was convinced to sign up for a family membership. I fell in love with the gym. It was the perfect environment to train my son, and it's only a 15-20 minute commute from our home. I was extremely thrilled to get the ball rolling, literally. I'd even layout a roadmap with all the strategic initiatives I planned on executing for a 7-year-old Amarion until his 18th birthday. Before our first training session, I warned Amarion that we had reached a point of no-return. More importantly, I told him that he will experience a different version of me, and for every hour that we spend inside of that gym, I'm no longer considered his Dad...
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Amazing!!!!!
I feel very inspired by this today. I really believe it's important to look at our youth and give them everything we can to provide the right tools to succeed against any opposition. And as a community we need to support each other. We want good people in our communities and places we do business and recieve services we want good examples for future generations and that starts at home.