One night, I was playing ball up at Terry Ashe, and a pretty blond-haired girl was watching from the sideline. A girlfriend of hers, whom she kept referring to as her "twin," though they look nothing alike, was the only girl playing in the pickup game I was in. We played a couple of games, and then we were one player short for another game, so the girl on the side was coaxed into playing, despite the fact that she was wearing a simple pair of thong sandals. I had been guarding the one girl on the court, being the "old man" on the court at 48, while most of these guys are in the 15-20 range. But with a second girl on the court, I switched with another guy, telling him to beware of the one I was guarding, because she had a good shot. The girl I'd been guarding, laughing, said of her friend, the new girl, "She's got a better shot than I do!" I smiled at the new girl, and said, "Well, at least you're wearing sandals. It kind of evens things out."
She was a very nice girl with a nice game, and it was a pleasant evening. She introduced herself as "Chelsey."
Little did I know how good she really is until yesterday's article in the Paradise Post by Paul Wellersdick called "Ruscillo returns from junior nationals in Ohio."
It turns out that the pretty young lady is Chelsey Ruscillo, and that she's becoming a bit of a star at 16. Wellersdick writes: "Not many high school students get letters from scouts asking them to play in invitational ball games in front of scouts." But Chelsey was invited to to play in two tournaments, including the USA Junior Nationals. Wellersdick reports that she even won the MVP "out of three pools at the nationals."
Much of the rest of the article is about her love for the game. She told the reporter: "The only reason I try hard for school is to play basketball. I just love it can't explain it, I love it too much to explain. I love the adrenaline and going crazy. Just feeling like our team could school your team."
There were times when high school sports were the only thing that motivated me through school as well. So, I understand.
By the way, this brings back a memory. When I was playing high school basketball at Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland, when we, by the way--and little thanks to me--made the top 20 in the DC area, I was invited by the head coach of an all girls Catholic High School to come practice with his girls one evening. They had a big game coming up, and he wanted to coach them up by having a guy high school basketball player for them to go against. Needless to say, it was a pleasure to help out.
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