After the last seconds of my last high school basketball game, I sat with my teammates in the Splendora locker room devastated that our season was over. When all of the seniors were asked to say something about the season, my head filled with all of the valuable memories from the past four years, but words were hard to come by.
One of the only things I remember saying after the game was “Thank you, Coach Cross.”
I first met Coach Cross at a high school basketball camp when I was 13. At first, I thought the banter he made while making us do full-court layups or dribbling drills was kind of painful. Now, five years later, I can’t imagine having a practice without Coach Cross making a “yo mama” joke or telling someone “I could score on you.”
To say the past four years would not have been the same without having Coach Cross as my coach is an understatement. We have had winning seasons, losing seasons and multiple sub-varsity coaching changes, yet Coach Cross has made it all seem worth it.
Nearly everything that I know about basketball I have learned from Coach Cross, but what I learned from him about real life is what will always stick with me.
At the end of last year, I had one of the hardest conversations with him about how unsure I was about playing basketball my senior year. Although that day I felt like my decision was final, he spent the next two months giving not-so subtle reminders of why I should play.
When I finally gave in, he just told me “I knew you didn’t want to quit.” Although on that day, I couldn’t have imagined I would be giving him a hug and crying on my Senior Night because I didn’t want high school basketball to end.
My senior year reminded me why I fell in love with the sport in the first place, and without Coach Cross none of it would have been possible. Since I was 13 and first learning how to properly dribble a basketball, Coach Cross has never stopped believing in me. He showed me what it means to be a part of a team and how to stick up for yourself. But, most importantly, he showed me how to be the best person I can be.
** This story is part of a Teacher Appreciation series where students write about a staff member who has had a significant impact on them during high school.
