Diary of an Eagle: With Basketball Season Ending, It's Time for a Fond Farewell

Hello readers,

This is sort of a sad diary… because it is my last!  My senior year of basketball has ended and I woke up this morning sadly realizing that I actually have no practice today!  I really looked forward to practice every day.  I will certainly miss it!  However, I am proud of the team for making it into CIF in the first place. For the freshman, it was their first CIF playoff game ever!  When I was a freshman, we did not even make the playoffs.  So, it is an accomplishment to be proud of for the girls. 

Last night, at our first-round playoff game, we did succumb to the #2 seed Rio Hondo Prep at their place.  Going into it, we knew it was going to be a tough game.  But in basketball, anything can happen.  Unfortunately, two of our players were sick (and our two coaches are just getting over their sicknesses too), which turned our “strategy” upside down, so we played with a tighter rotation of six players.   Not the ideal situation, but you go with whatcha got!  I am still very grateful for the chance to land in the CIF playoffs.  I don’t have any regrets about this season.

It has been a whirlwind season.  We had many fun times: Denny’s, movies (Finding Nemo is our most quoted movie), treats, practices (last Saturday, we had a creative “player-run” practice), Temecula trip, car rides, service projects with Operation Christmas Child and Welcome Inn homeless ministry…

One of my teammates said that “my best friends at school are my basketball teammates.”  And, as a new student to the school, another teammate said she was pretty adamant about not playing basketball, but ended up playing the sport because her “mom made her do it.”  However, she is SO glad her mom made her play basketball because she could not imagine life without basketball or her teammates!  I am so happy with the relationships we all have developed with each other.  We have one of those teams who constantly talk and text each other off the court and even off the school campus.  I love my teammates!

To the coaches, parents, and families who have helped the basketball program run smoothly, we greatly appreciate you!  It is a tremendous amount of work, time, effort, stress, flexibility, care – you guys have been awesome and encouraging!  I would also like to say a BIG thank the CVCS administration for always being supportive of girls’ basketball.   God has worked and used this season and my past seasons in many memorable ways.

Basketball will ALWAYS have a very special place in my heart and my life.  Don’t worry, I won’t be able to stay away from it!

It’s been a blessing to share my “adventures as a CVCS student-athlete.”  I would like to thank Mr. Rohwer and Patch.com, Coach Fore, our athletic director, and you, the readers, for giving me this opportunity.  I feel very privileged!

Have a great four-day weekend! God bless!

~Jessica Nipp

Colossians 3:17