Amanda Apgar, NCSA Student Athlete: End of Summer
August 22nd, 2008 - byAnother month of my summer “vacation” has passed by and in one short week, I will begin my junior year!
I know summer vacation for most everyone I know means going to the mall or the movies, or hanging out with friends by the pool. But my summer went a little bit differently. For me, summer “vacation” was spent working out at the gym, perfecting my game, and traveling with my AAU team.
On my last blog, I wrote about my experiences of traveling to Atlanta and playing in front of college coaches for the first time. I was able to come home and rest for about a week after that, but then it was off to Memphis. This next event was called the River City Classic and there were about 200 teams competing. Our team did a lot better on this trip-we ended up advancing to the championship round! I was proud of myself for having had more composure and feeling a lot more confident in my abilities out on the floor. I didn’t get to take much pleasure in being home for very long though-2 days later, I was on a plane to San Diego for one last summer tournament with my team at the MSNM Western Championships. This time, we managed to win 3 of the 5 games we played, and even though we were eliminated a day early, I realized how important it was that I had prepared all summer for these competitions. I had worked hard during a time when most of my friends weren’t doing much more than watching TV or playing video games. The reality is that I played in tournaments that were attended by coaches that I could someday be playing for and it made me realize how hard I will have to continue to work, and just how much I want to play in college. I continue to receive mail and email messages from colleges and have been fortunate enough to speak to a few coaches on the phone. Now that I’m on a short break from playing with my AAU team, I will be spending more time on recontacting coaches and making sure I do everything I can to get noticed.
Next up: SAT’s! My plan is to take them this winter so I went out and got a study guide and am looking to sign up for a class to help me prep over the next couple of months. All the coaches that I’ve corresponded with have said the same thing; that my grades and test scores count for just as much as my game, so I know I’ll need to do well on the test and in my classes this year too.
By the way, here’s a photo I included of some of my teammates and me enjoying a little 
down time on our travels between games. For now, I’m going to enjoy my last official week before school starts and catch up on some pool time with friends, golf, and maybe watch some of the Olympics-and of course-shoot some hoops!!
