When it comes to sports, athletes are bound to face challenges throughout their season. Athletes need to be challenged, otherwise they will never become better. However, there are times where the only challenge is being able to find the motivation to go and practice or play the next game. Sophomore Jocelyn Cabuyadao used to love playing basketball; it was fun for her, but in her most recent year of playing the challenges that she encountered weren’t pushing her to be a better athlete, they made her question why she even became one.

“I’ve been playing for five years,” sophomore Jocelyn Cabuyadao said. “I liked it a lot.”

The season started in anticipation. There was a lot of excitement to be back on the court in a fresh school with new teammates that would soon become some of her best friends.

Cabuyadao always brought a positive attitude to every practice she attended despite knowing what would happen. She would soon be picked on by her coaches and teammates and treated unfairly compared to the rest of the team.

“It changed my mindset because the coaching staff made me think I was not a good player,” Cabuyadao said. “It made me feel like I didn’t put any work in and I know for a fact that I did.”

Some of her teammates who saw her on a daily basis during basketball season saw how hard she worked to try to prove herself. Anyone who knew Cabuyado saw how much time, energy and effort she put into basketball. 

“I can tell that she [did] her best and always [did] anything she could to benefit the team,” teammate and sophomore Cassidy Hochstedler said.

At first, she thought she could stick it out to the end of the season by just focusing on playing the way she knows how to.

“When our coaches did not play her as much during the games, I saw a decrease in her love for the sport especially during practices when the coaches were hard on her,” sophomore teammate Kaley Purcell said.

As time went on, Cabuyadao found it more difficult to finish out the season.

“In a way, they expected the team to be perfect,” Purcell said. “They would get upset with us whenever we did something wrong.”

Cabuyadao got some of the worst of it. No matter what she did, it was never good enough for the coaches. After constantly being called out and made to be the opposite of a good example, she no longer felt confident playing the sport.

Despite the negative experience, she has decided that she will not let a few people get in the way of her playing this season.

“I want to make this year better than last year,” Cabuyadao said.

Even though her love for the sport faded at the end of last season, she wants to use this season to rediscover her passion and become better than ever before.