Dear Senior,

As your season comes to an end, play-offs are in full swing, and your time as a high school basketball player is dwindling, there are some things that you should know. You might be tired from a long season that is probably both physically and emotionally exhausting. You might be eager to move on, as college acceptances and plans for the future become more and more real. You might be fed up with a disappointing season. Regardless of how you feel right now, you should know that this time in your basketball career is important. It is an important time because it is your last, and now is the time to enjoy it, because no matter how you feel now, you’ll miss it.

You will miss the game in and of itself. You will miss the feeling of sore legs after running sprints for hours. You will miss the feeling of satisfaction that comes from making a free throw. You will miss lay-up lines. You will miss the feeling of leather on hands as you practice ball handling. You will miss the good calls and the bad calls. But most of all, you will miss being able to do what you love, every day, for an entire season.

While it might be hard to understand now, you will miss going to practice every day, even on Saturdays. You will miss the hours spent in the weight room. You will miss being yelled at for missed lay-ups or dropped passes. You will miss the late night games followed by early morning practices. You will miss the bruises and the “strawberries” left on your knees, because it meant you got on the floor and fought for the ball. You will miss the sprints you had to run because of someone else’s mistakes, because they taught you that sometimes, life just works like that. At first, you won’t even realize all of the life lessons that you have learned, but they have helped you grow and mature immensely.

Regardless of how irritated you may get with your teammates, believe it or not, you are going to miss them too, a lot. You’ll miss hanging out with your team before games. You’ll miss long bus rides spent listening to music. You will miss the pranks, dinners, inside jokes, and time spent with your best friends. You will miss the pre-game traditions that ultimately only make sense to your teammates. And you will miss coaches, team managers, and all of the people involved in your season.

So, as you reach your final games, make sure to take it all in and really love it, because you won’t find anything quite like it anywhere else. Spend some time during these final days to enjoy all of it and play hard, because regardless of how you feel now, you play this game because you love it and you always will.

Sincerely,

A nostalgic college student.