Lineup Changes
It was a few days later that Kimmit pulled me aside after practice. He'd spoken privately with me once or twice since he'd made me captain, mostly just to get my impressions on how the team was doing. Whenever he split the team up to run different...
All-Star Weekend
I caught the pass from our point guard, and then I drove forward, putting pressure on the opposing team's defence. As one of their guards closed with me, I turned my back on the net, keeping my body between the defender and the ball. My eyes cast about...
Intermediate Sponsorship
I didn't go back to the court for a few days after that. I didn't want to look at any of them. I felt awful, and I didn't really want to be reminded of Garet glaring at me, or the others watching me, or Catherine storming by without even looking at...
Benefits of Additional Training
It was almost a surprise when the others started showing up again. Catherine and I had been playing together for a good two and a half months, almost every evening. In January, things kind of slowed down a bit as Catherine tried out for her school's...
Basic Sponsorship
"Why didn't you show up yesterday?" I'm not sure what surprised me more: the fact that Catherine was at the court before I was, or the fact that she seemed to be offended about something. Normally I could only get her to crack by hinting that I was...
Contract Negotiations
Things continued like that for a while. Catherine and I worked ourselves hard every Saturday and Sunday, and I shared mostly quiet car rides with Laurence before and after. I started bringing homework with me to do in the car; it was always difficult...
The Off-Season
The summer after eleventh grade was one of the best times of my life. I know, I could probably make it sound much more eloquent and nuanced than that, but that's really all there was to it. Admittedly, the first week or so after exams finished were...
Control
The provincial finals, in an act of ultimate cruelty, took place the weekend before exams that year. Following our dominating victory at the Vancouver citywide tournament, Kimmit had given us a very short break; one week during which we only had...
Scouting Profile
Our team went undefeated in my junior year of high school. Catherine, Garet, and I made for a trio that the other teams simply could not keep up with. On top of that, Kimmitt's training guaranteed that the rest of our team was competent enough to back...
Two Player Drills
One of the weirdest things about Vancouver in the winter is how big of a difference altitude makes. You could be walking down a hill through big, fluffy flakes of snow, and find yourself in heavy pelting rain by the time you reach the bottom. The snow...
Pick-Up Game
I never liked her. Not from the moment she first stepped onto the court. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. I wasn't actually there when she first stepped onto the court. I was there the next day, running to be on time after school. My high school was...
Under Alien Skies
Each one of them was an avian, as all shrike pilots were. the long wingtips of the pilots just brushed the dust as they walked. overall, avians made the perfect choice for pilots.