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| Rec Ball Life |
Now this post has been in the makings for about a week or two now and its all about Recreation Women's Basketball. Also known as: Rec ball, Rec league, Old Ladies League... Whatever you call it, Rec ball is life post college basketball. I've been playing rec ball in different leagues for about 3 years now and I just felt the need to talk about it so people fully understand how awesome it can be. First off this is the breakdown of how one enters into Rec Ball life. The inevitable happens and you finish out your college playing career and you enter NARP life. NARP stands for Non Athletic Regular Person. This is something that everyone dreads as a college athlete. The first week of NARP life you're like, this is awesome I have no early morning practice, my body doesn't ache, and I have the free agency to do whatever I want on a Friday night. But then the first week ends and you start missing it. So to fill the void you decide to go play in a rec league with fellow NARPS. Now not all NARPS are created equal. Some NARPS are post college atheltes like yourself. Others have been NARPS since day 1.
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| NARP Life Day 1 WOOT WOOT PARTY NO BASKETBALL |
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| NARP life Week 1 I miss basketball |
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| NARP Life 25 years later Who cares about college basketball |
Once NARP life is accepted you then enter in the rec league and play and your eyes are opened to his whole new world of rec ball. So there's some things one needs to know about rec ball. Rec ball is short for the adult recreation leagues held at the city and county recreation centers as briefly mentioned before. Now while playing rec ball you might be lucky enough to get into a competitive league where the NARP ladies can at least make a lay up. Then sometimes you get the less experienced NARPS who come in spandex and wear their hair down. Its like the BYU men's basketball team, you never know what kind of team you're going to get. Now in rec ball you have 5 different kind of people:
2. The ladies who thought it would be a good form of cardio after their yoga and zumba classes. So they come strait from Golds Gym in their spandex with their hair down and in their little florescent running shoes. It would be like having Michelle on your team. Lord knows Michelle can't shoot a basketball to save her life. You don't want them on your team either.
3. The ladies who actually played in college and know what a flare screen is. These people are competitive, sometimes almost too competitive. But you're most likely going to win and most like going get a free tshirt or a free duffle bag that says "Salt Lake County Rec" on the side. You want as many people like this as you can find on this team.
4. There are the ladies who played in high school and probably should have played in college but didn't, and they're still really good. They're usually pretty competitive and are the most consistent people. You want these ladies on your team.
5. Lastly are the ladies who you wonder if they have ever touched a basketball in their existence. Or if they know who Michael Jordan even is. These ladies have a tendency to shoot the ball with two hands and hit the back board on the other court. You really don't want to play with one of them. If you are so unfortunate to have to go through this, Shaylee you know what I'm talking about, then I am so sorry and I'll pray for your patience.
So over the past two almost three years of rec ball experience I have been blessed to always play with the ladies who fall in categories 3 and 4. I have been even luckier to get to play pick up basketball on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays with ladies who fall under categories 3 and 4. More specifically my friend Shaylee. Shaylee and I actually were playing together 4 days a week until our Salt Lake league just ended. We got 2nd place to Morgan Warburton's team. If you don't know who Morgan Warburton is google her. So I can't be too mad but still losing sucks either way. Like I said, its just rec ball, but I can't help but get so competitive. Yes we are not playing for any kind of cool trophy or Conference Championship, but we are playing for a tshirt. And lets be honest everyone wants a tshirt! Example, after we lost I think it was the next night at a different league that Shaylee and I were still mad about losing. Like I said, its rec ball, but for some reason I get so competitive and just want to win the dang tshirt.
As I mentioned in the previous paragraph Shaylee and I play basketball 3-4 times a week together. On this past Thursday we had the ultimate rec ball experience. So we only had 4 players. We got down by nearly 30 points. It's a good thing shaylee couldn't miss because I didn't hit a shot. So the team we played everyone was 30ish with 2 kids or my age and married. They had a whole cheering section. I'm talking parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, kids, husbands, friends... Like more people were at that game than a BYU womens basketball game. Did I mention we were down the whole game by a lot? So the whole game these fans are yelling at the refs and talking so much crap. I just wanted to be like, ok we are all adults. 1. This is rec ball 2. This is Spanish Fork rec ball 3. You're up by 25 and 4. We only have 4 players calm down everyone! Let's just say the situation escalated quickly as we made our come back and the ref almost ejected everyone. We were within 2 but still lost. Moral of the story, make sure you bring everyone you know to your rec ball game to talk all the crap they can and cheer excessively and annoyingly. So if any of you would want to come and be in our cheer section, which is lacking immensely, feel free to join.
Now as much of a joke rec league ball can be, at the end of the day it's really all of us post college athletes have. After our 4 years the options of still playing are EXTREMELY limited. My advice, play in as many leagues as you can and have fun. Stay competitive but have fun too. Of there's no competitiveness that takes the fun of winning away, which is probably why Shaylee and I get so angry when we lose. So keep in mind as you enter NARP life try to make the best of it and play basketball as much as possible. Just because college play is done doesn't mean you can't play anymore! You will always have that rec ball life to look forward to.
So don't forget, our fan section is struggling. So if you want to come and cheer Shaylee and I on feel free to join us on Tuesday and Thursdays in Spanish Fork and Wednesdays in the City of Salt!
Stay Classy my friends.
Alexis
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