How sports helped save my life

FRIDAY, MAY 18: This week I am focusing on the story of a young man that loves sports and, despite his downfalls, still has a passion to succeed and be great.

Here is his story:

I grew up in Roberts Avenue with my family. I excelled in many sports. Football and cricket was a great passion of mine but motocross was a sport I enjoyed and never gave up in.

But not having a mother or father together when growing up brought me lots of pain and anger towards life. My Father was not really there.

Don’t get me wrong, he took me to most of my sporting events but never really spent a lot of time with me.

He never helped my mom out financially.

My mother never talked bad about him but I saw with my own eyes as I got older what type of person he was, so I stayed away from him.

Since I had this lack of relationship with him, my attitude towards sports soured.

My life took a drastic change for the worst when promises were broken about me going away to school.

Yes, I understood when I got older,  that my mom could not financially do this on her own but for me it was tough to deal with and I lost hope and turned to the streets at 15.

Once on the streets I lost any love I had left for sports and never even bothered to pick up a football. 

Then, at 18, I got in trouble and was incarcerated for a year.

I played a lot of football in prison and that is when I realized what the game meant to me and how it was my love and passion and a way out.

Prison

So, when I was released from prison, I began to focus on football again and signed up and played in the Premier League.

Football was, and will always be my favourite sport.

The feeling I get when playing it is indescribable.

I now realize there are many opportunities out there in this beautiful game and kids in Bermuda need to push themselves to the limit and always give everything they have because it makes no sense running around in life fighting, getting chased by police, doing jail time or always having to watch their back.

My message to you is get the best education and no matter what is going on in your life use sports or something else you love to your advantage and give a million per cent at it. If you go hard at what you love, the results are endless.

Remember, you are your own Person, Follow your own goals and don’t stop for anyone as you believe in yourself.

I realize that my problems became worse when I stopped playing sports — the jail time, selling drugs, fighting and lack of hope all came about because I wasn’t involved in what I truly loved. I only became more focused when I got back into sports because it gave me hope.

Today I look at life a little differently.

I am more positive in my thinking and living. I realize that everyday will not be a good day but I always look at it as another day I am alive and I am able to better myself in whatever I am doing.

I am a proud young black man

I am driven, motivated, determined, powerful, intelligent, a good athlete and a great father. I love my mother as she inspires me to the fullest. The message to my four kids is that I love them a lot, stay positive and always learn from their mistakes. They must continue to dream and believe they would come true.

What makes me proud through all this is that I had sports and positive people to fall back on when going through tough times and now it has allowed me to share all my positive ways with all my kids and their friends who love hanging around me. 

My goals are to be married, own a business, continue building success with my job as a barber and to make sure all my kids finish school and show to them a different and better life.

Thank you, Mr Bascome for sharing my story. I appreciate you giving me a voice.

Until next time!