Hustle Vs Muscle

Chapter 20: Weighted Wall Sits

It's practice and we all are huddled around a white board, sweating from our workout, a hundred pushups and a ninety second wall sit. "Now during our first game, you weren't assigned positions. But I noticed that some people on this team are fit to play certain positions." says Coach Anthony. "So I'm going to assign them." Coach Anthony turns to write something on the whiteboard.

Center:
Power forward:
Point guard:
Shooting guard:
Small forward:

"We'll start with the starting five." Coach Anthony says. "Our center is Liam D'amato." He pauses. "Damato." he continues. "You made great shots from the center of the key. You got lots of good rebounds and had those hands up on defense. Use that height."

"Moving on, our power forward is Christian Slay." Coach Anthony announces. He looks at Christian and continues speaking. "Slay, you had awesome shots and rebounds from the side. You were good at posting and great D."

Then Coach Anthony moves on to point guard. I'm most likely going to end up as a point guard because I'm shorter than everybody. "Our point guard is Christina Perkins." continues Coach Anthony. "Perkins, you weren't afraid to shoot. You stole the ball everytime their guy came up the court. Then you out-sprinted everybody down there and scored on them. Steal. Fast break. Score. Done. Nice work."

Coach Anthony announces the other positions. Then we practice a few plays. Coach Anthony goes over the movements, where to go, where to pass and where to shoot. Then we run the play, starting five vs bench players. I bring the ball down. D'amato screens Chase. I spin away from Coby, the other point guard and pass to Christian. Christian shoots and it goes in.

We run it one more time but instead I pass to the opposite side. I bring the ball down and I'm ready to pass. But Warrick forgets to screen Elias and he is able to guard Aiden. Which means I can't pass to him. And Warrick isn't in a good position to receive a pass. "Hey!" Coach Anthony yells at Warrick. "You're supposed to screen him. What, can't remember a single play? Are you really that dumb? Is there even a brain in your head? Maybe we should go slower and use small words so you can understand. " I want to say something but I don't. I don't want to risk losing my spot on the team.

"Coach, stop!" says Aiden. "That's bang out of order!" Coach Anthony turns around and gives him a look. If looks could kill, he'd die in a second. "Wachowski, against the wall." he says. His voice doesn't have a hint of anger in it. His voice is steady and emotionless, not matching his expression. It's more than anger. "You're going to do a wall sit with these weights on your knees." says Coach Anthony, holding up a pair of five pound knee weights. "You can sit like that for ninety seconds, or give up. Give up and you're off the team."

Coach Anthony knows he won't make it. Everybody here has a hard enough time with wall sits without weights. I can see the fear in his eyes as he straps the weights on. It's all a setup. Coach Anthony and Aiden both know that he won't be able to hold it, not with the weights. He wants to humiliate Aiden. "Three...two...one." Coach Anthony counts down. "Drop!"

Aiden drops down into a wall sit. I can tell he's already struggling to hold it together. His blonde hair is dripping with sweat. Ten seconds in I can see tears on his face and in his blue eyes. His legs are shaking and his face red, from the effort and the tears.
"Suck it up!" yells Coach Anthony. "I don't want any babies on this team. Grow the hell up!" D'amato is laughing along with Coach Anthony. "Come on, Aiden." he says. "Give up!" Aiden looks like he's about to give out. I can't watch any more.

"Coach Anthony." I say. "Give me the weights. I'll do it." "Ooh, someone's feeling confident today. Give up and you're off the team." says Coach Anthony. The weights are strapped onto my knees. I drop into a wall sit. Ten seconds have passed by and my knees hurt. I want the weights off. Tears form in my eyes and I close them so Coach Anthony can't see them. "Christina, just do yourself a favor and give up." says D'amato. "You're not gonna make it." "Come on, Chris." says Chase. "You got this." "You can make it." says Aiden.

It feels like an eternity. I can't fight my pain or get rid of it, but I can breathe through it. I focus on breathing. In. Out. In. Out. I focus on the rise and fall of my chest as my lungs fill with air. Then the beeping of a timer cuts through the air. I slide to the ground, unable to stand up for a few seconds. I struggle to stand up because my legs are hurting. Aiden helps me stand up.

We continue running the plays. It's torturous because my legs are in pain because they're sore with every movement. How can a sport be something you live for and you love to do one minute and pure torture the next? Nobody says anything. Not even when Coach Anthony yells at another boy for messing up. He starts to cry and clutch his stomach, a clear sign of anxiety. But Coach Anthony continues on with hurtful words. Watching this boy cry as the words come at him like bullets is even worse torture than doing a wall sit with five pound weights.