Amari Franklin '22 Recruiting Profile

Growing up in a family full of athletes is very challenging on so many different levels. The family expects so much out of you and expects you to be a mirror image of them if not better without asking what you want. As a child, I would hear so many stories about my mother, grandmother, sister, and father from multiple people. The same people that would ask if I was ready to be just like them. When you are a child a question like that sticks in a developing mind. I would subconsciously believe that I had to be just like my family. Being an individual made sports fun, but living up to someone else was a challenge. 

I started off trying many different sports: soccer,  t-ball, gymnastics, and cheer. Although, my favorite was running track. I enjoyed it thoroughly because I was doing it for myself. At the age of seven, I qualified for the Junior Olympics. Shortly thereafter I began playing basketball. Almost everyone in my family, male or female, played basketball and my mother and sister were exceptionally good at it. I first began playing basketball because it seemed like so much fun. I used to play with a team called the Piranhas and I used to dominate there. At the time I was not living in my hometown because of the military but after 4 years of dabbling in different sports, we were stationed back in my hometown. I was very excited to be back but I would deeply miss it there. When I came back home I did not know which sport to continue playing. I started with cheer at the age of 10 in the 5th grade. However, being around my family and constantly hearing them mention basketball I decided to give that another opportunity. Before coming home I had only played basketball for one year, and all of my friends had been playing since they were kids. So I was behind on the development aspect. Nevertheless, I continued to play. I played with a lot of organizational teams, but there was one team that ruined basketball for me.

At the age of thirteen, I played for a local organizational team which all of my other friends played for. It seemed cool to be playing with them, but I was playing under a coach who did not like me. He would constantly make remarks about my skills as a player and repeat that I was not good enough. If I were to complain about how he talked about me he would state, “this generation is so emotional”. These comments deteriorated my character and mentally affected me. Even the other coaching staff would say hurtful things to me. Unfortunately, I never spoke up about it because I felt the judgment would be worse. I am now realizing I should have said something because 4 years later I can still feel the damage those comments did to me mentally. They sparked insecurities and later I believed it was an immense reason for my diagnosed depression. 

In closing, I still truly enjoy sports. For 2 years I let those negative comments affect me mentally and hold me back as a player. As of now, I am a multisport athlete with impeccable grades who has learned to break out of her shell without minding others' assumptions about me as an athlete. I learned so much about myself from that experience with that program and I truly learned what I can overcome. As I go back to my roots and how I felt about sports as a kid I understand what I can accomplish when I try to only please myself.