I first got involved in basketball in Grade 6 and it easily became my favorite sport. Ever since then, I have applied basketball concepts to my daily life with friends, family, fitness, and work. I was never an all-star or elite player, just a hard worker who made solid contributions. Concepts such as teamwork, commitment, learning from failure have guided my adolescent years to my current adult life.
Basketball has always been my rock.
With that said, how does the process of learning a new move on the court before it shows consistently in real games translate to my professional development in a laboratory?
What did the struggle and self-doubt teach me?
The Struggle
Growing up, I was nurtured the following when it came to education: study hard, get good grades, go to a respected university, get a degree with employment opportunities, and I’ll get a high paying job. When I graduated during Canada’s 2009 recession, my first job after receiving my Degree in Chemistry was a cashier at a grocery store.
Even my first laboratory position wasn’t as expected. It was a commercial processing lab for coal that only required a high-school education and the ability to handle up to 80 kg. Since I only made $2 more, I kept the cashier position on a part-time basis while I worked full-time for the dusty coal lab. Although I became a Lead Hand at the lab within 6 months and supervised an entire shift for the final 2 months of my stay, I eventually left both companies because I found a more technical laboratory that required my educational background.
However, luck was never on my side. Although I learned a great deal in the biofuel industry and my technical skills greatly developed, the company couldn’t survive the politics behind green energy at the time. Thus, I only lasted slightly less than 2 years before the company crashed. Once again, I was back to square one. In 2012, 3 years after graduation, I was hired by my third laboratory.
The Doubt
Things didn’t start out smoothly either in the research and development lab. I joined an extremely senior staff and had a steep learning curve. Mistakes were made frequently because independent work was the norm. At some point, I seriously considered leaving the scientific field all together. I thought I wasn’t good enough for this kind of work. However, I continued to learn through the struggles and eventually, the company realized my aptitude for the kind of work because I used my experiences from the previous two labs. Unfortunately, I still wasn’t making enough to own a home in Vancouver. With the housing market on the rise somewhere in 2015, I decided to get a second job on the weekends.
The Rock
One day in early 2017, I said to myself that this can’t be the only thing I do in life – work to try to own a home. Although I only played up to high school basketball, I do play the game with passion in the leagues I’m in. With the desire to play competitively for a long time, I decided to contact a NBA Skills Trainer to improve my game. This journey was a great challenge as I dealt with scheduling issues between 2 jobs, league play, and affordable drop-in gym for practice. Regardless, everything was well worth it because not only did my skills improve, training sparked a new love for the game. This couldn’t have come at a better time because my weekend job is starting to get extremely stale. The money is easy, but I’m not doing anything that’s stimulating or making an impact in people’s lives. I have decided that I want basketball as a constant in my life.
Don’t get me wrong, I like my full-time as it is. The laboratory that I have been working for since 2012 has invested a lot into my professional development. I struggled just to find a stable job in my field. They have paid for numerous training courses and placed me on a few major mining projects. I am now entrusted as a valuable senior for the company. Nevertheless, basketball will always be my passion.
During the summer of 2017, I tried coaching for the first time. I was given the responsibility of developing a group of Grade 6/7 on and off the court. Seeing how I have never coached, I was extremely nervous because the last thing I wanted to do was let a group of kids down. We were one of the worst teams going into the playoffs, but my commitment to the kids never withered. Every practice, I preached my core values. As a result, the messages finally clicked during the playoffs. We went 3-0 to be the champs in our division. I called the experience a fun stress and come this October, I’ll be on my third volunteer duty as a youth coach. I’ll be given the task of coaching an even younger group, Grade 4/5. Currently, I’m a volunteer coach at my trainer’s academy working with Grade 8-10 students.
This is why I play the game; this is why I want basketball a part of my life. Now I’m entrusted by professionals from the recreational to the serious to develop and inspire their youths. I want to show people that they don’t need to be an all-star player; they don’t need to be a genius to excel in life. They just need to be willing to struggle, to learn, to work, and to share.
That’s why Coach Lam is here.
Antonio Lam, Basketball Coach.
Anyone in sports and fitness who would like to share their voice, please submit to hank@hankfittraining.com