Sonya Elliott – Page 36 – Back on the Court

Monday’s Pen to Paper: Spring has Sprung

The cherry trees are in bloom and I’m sneezing from time to time and every once in a blue moon we have some sunlight, so I’m calling it spring. And my daughter informed me that it was officially spring yesterday, so there you have it, it may not feel like it at times, but it’s official. Spring has sprung!

WRITING PROMPT #1: What does spring mean to you?

WRITING PROMPT #2: Selma couldn’t stop sneezing, she…

PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Enjoy The Madness

It’s that time of the year again when everyone works from home so they can sit with their computers in their laps and their eyes on the TV watching college tournament games. And though watching the games is plenty of fun, every year my husband and I ramp up the intensity with a bet. The bracket winner gets an hour massage and more important, bragging rights. (I’m looking forward to ANOTHER massage).

My husband and I are also in a bracket where losers owe winners a drink. My friend and her family fill out their brackets and the winner gets their request granted from the rest of the family. Maybe sister has to play games all day with winning brother, mom cooks favorite dinner and dessert for winning daughter, this fun competition gives another good reason to gather as a family and have fun.

I’m not good about keep up with the college teams during the season. (In the past I was always busy coaching, and this year I was watching the team that I used to coach, my son’s high school team and my daughter’s college team, so I didn’t have a lot of extra watching time.) So, I have to admit my picks are pretty arbitrary. I often choose my teams by names of colleges that are more familiar, teams that I remember watching in the past. Sometimes it’s by their mascot. Sometimes I’ve seen a team play once and liked either the coach or the way they played defense. And sometimes I choose an underdog, just because.

With high school, and most college, seasons over, it’s time to dive in and enjoy a little March Madness! And even though it’s Friday today, it’s not too late to grab a friend, design your […]

Monday’s Pen to Paper: A Mother’s Love

I’d like to share an excerpt from my memoir, Back on the Court. In this piece, I am 25 years old and have recently been released from the hospital after being in a tragic accident where my fiancé was killed and I was critically injured. I am being moved into my parent’s house just days before I was supposed to be getting married…

A Mother’s Love

One more sip of water and I swear I’ll puke. I’m about to burst and I’m buzzing on a Percocet high that keeps me floating in this unwanted nightmare. More water means another trip to the bathroom, which means another transfer and more pain.

Slumping forward in my wheelchair, I drop my head and close my eyes. My water glass sits untouched. The air behind me thickens, and then dissipates slowly as mom lets out a muffled sigh and walks heavy footed down the hall to the bathroom. She’s unnerved, but I’ve had four large glasses already today, this one can wait.

I’ve been eating, sleeping, and sitting in this house for 13 days now and I want out. I’m with people I love, but I don’t care. I hate my mom for taking a leave of absence from work and being with me all day, for trying to help me get better.

I hate the way the gold wire rims of her glasses accent her caring eyes.

I hate the way she cooks my favorite foods and tries to mask her disappointment when I don’t show any enthusiasm.

I hate the way she manages to think of my every need before I do, as a good mother should. And she is a good mother, a great mother, and right now I hate her for that.

Mom walks back into the kitchen […]

PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: AAU, Summer Camp or Sun Bath? What To Do This Summer?

Are you (or one of your kids) a high school basketball player or athlete? Then what you choose to do over the summer is a valid question and the answer is not always a simple one. The answer comes from a more important question, what do you want? Do you want to work on your game and become a better basketball player? Then you have some options. First, attending a few individual camps is a good way to get some specific work done. You get college level coaches and players working with you to become better, and nothing is more powerful. I had a blast when I went away to camp when I was young. We played a few games of course, but I got a lot of skill work in and I improved a ton. The drills helped my game and I had fun living away from home for a week, meeting other players and working with new coaches. I loved it.

Team camps are a little different, they are good team building but not as good for work on the fundamentals of the game, which is a big change since I was young. When I went to a team camp, we did skill work all day and a few games with our teammates at night. Now Team camps are mostly games, games and more games. Good yes, but practicing is how you become a better player, so it was a little disappointing when I took one of my teams a few years ago and there was no individual work. Still the girls got to know one another better on the court and had fun, so it was worth it.

Playing AAU gives you a ton of game time but is often more […]