I am Shaylie Martinez, I was born in Hilo, Hawai‘i and I am currently living in Pahala, Hawai‘i, and this is how the game of basketball changed my life forever. My father and older brother were great basketball players in their time. And being the only baby girl, they had tried to include me in their love of basketball. But when I was a child, I was a girly girl that didn’t like sports and would rather play with barbie dolls to satisfy my time. My father was very hard on my older brother during these times because he wanted him to be better than anyone else that he would go up against on the court. But after some time of bribing me with sugar and convincing me to try to do something out of my comfort zone, they took me to my very first basketball practice that was runned by my older brother's teammates' father at the age of seven. I felt very shy and scared because I did not want to get yelled at by my father, so I tried my hardest to do the best I could but I ended up with making so many mistakes in the end. I was terrified to even step foot out of that gym because I knew what would have happened if I did, in the experience of my brother's lectures. Eventually, I built up my confidence to face my father and his words, and I took it to heart. I now know that my dad was only trying to make me better in a sport that I didn’t like but I got over it. After being brought into the world of athleticism, I started to play volleyball, and I loved it. After some years of volleyball I then switched over to basketball my freshman year of high school. That was my very first year playing basketball ever since that one basketball practice. I believe that my freshman year season was a learning experience because I was on junior varsity and it didn’t really matter if we won or lost. It helped me understand more about the game of basketball and what were the basics of it. A year later, my sophomore year of high school, I then switched to varsity basketball, this is really where I began to understand my love  for it and the hunger to want to win. But I still believe that it was also a learning experience just at a very high paced and skilled leveled game since I was on varsity. That year, we only won two games but I needed it because in order to win, you need to understand the concept of losing. Then my Junior season came and it was about time to take things seriously to fulfil my dream of winning a BIIF title for Ka‘ū. This year, we won eight games and lost four in the league. We won eleven games and lost seven overall because we had a preseason tournament on O‘ahu. For the first time in a long time, the Ka‘ū Girls Basketball Team has made it to the playoffs and I got to play in the Civic in Hilo. It was a huge accomplishment for me and even though we didn’t get the banner this year, I will strive and work harder next year so that I can make history here in Ka‘ū. If it wasn’t for my father’s and brother’s love and passion for the game of basketball, I wouldn’t have even picked up a basketball in the first place. I give thanks to them for introducing me to my lifelong dream of becoming the first generation to ever go to college and to play basketball for them.

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