When I was entering 8th grade, my school system added girl’s basketball to the extra-curricular options.  I lived in Iowa, and at that time, Iowa played 3-on-3 basketball for girls.  Delicate girls couldn’t be expected to run up and down a full court, so we had three forwards and three guards on the floor at a time.  Forwards play on one half of the court and guards play on the other half.  We were limited to two dribbles (yes, I practiced dribbling from half court to the basket in two dribbles for a layup.  It can be done without carrying the ball — even by an 8th grader).

The boys had the after school practice times, so I got up and was at the school two hours early for basketball practice. I can’t eat before I work out, so I was very thankful for the school’s breakfast program (despite some rumors to the contrary, it wasn’t just for poor kids — this athlete appreciated it very much!)

I’m only now considering the strategic challenges of this style of basketball (when we didn’t have the ball on offense, our guards were going against their offense — we were forced to watch at the half-court line (can you tell I was a forward?). But in five-on-five basketball, the tallest player on the team is available to defend the other team’s tallest player.  The coach had to make some decisions about where it was best to play his or her tallest player in this scheme (for one example). On the other hand, if you just couldn’t shoot, you still could play a huge role and not be a detriment to your team, so there was an advantage as well.

At the end of ninth grade, I moved to Ohio, where they were implementing five-on-five girl’s basketball.  I played center, but I didn’t always jump center (we had a forward who had a much better vertical leap than I did).

The last time I played basketball was in 1998; I jammed the little finger on my right hand.  I got physical therapy for the ligament damage I suffered, but I can not straighten the finger.  I have 0% service connected disability for it (I don’t ever expect that to change — it was the principle of the thing — it happened while I was performing official duties).