2016-2017 Being Red Shirt:
The moment that this came out, I did not have any words, any exclamations, or any reaction. I was in shock. My brain was processing what my eyes just saw. I tried to scream, yell, and shout. I wanted to let it all out. But I could not. I was in awe. In disbelief. In a dream.
My teammate Luka texted me around midnight when I was just about to sleep, and he said,
“Yo, Charles! Check this out, I’m very happy for you and I want to say congrats.”
I opened the attachment he sent me right away and after seeing it, I couldn’t go back to sleep for the rest of the night. I fell asleep around 4am, then got up, and slept again at 5am, then got up, and so on… That following morning I woke up at 9am, full of energy, bottled up with excitement, ready to take on the world, and walked to War Memorial gym for our basketball practice.
Meanwhile, Conor texted Jordan and told him that, “Charles will go crazy when he sees his photo on the team roster and UBC website” … and yes I was, I was fanatic, I went berserk!
Man, I am extremely grateful, and particularly grateful and tremendously happy that I could earn this player spot on the team at one of the best Universities in the world. 4 years and I’ve been to the team tryouts 5 different time, but I never wanted to quit on my dream. I never gave up. Quitting was not an option for me. This was my passion. It was my love and my life. Even though many people told me that I should quit and give up, I told myself: Charles. How about try another time? Try one more time. Everyday I try to try make one more shot at the gym, and try to do 1 more rep of bench press at the weight room.
Regardless of all the people who didn’t believe in me and told me that I could not make it, that I could not succeed, I kept on believing, believing, and believing. If anything, they were a motivation to me in a sense. They made me want it even more. I learn things from people in good ways. It means a lot more to me than just making the team. It is one of the best basketball programs in the country. This is not only for myself, but also for my family, my friends, and all the people who had my back and supported me throughout, and moreover, this is for China, my home country China.
I came from China 5 years ago, from a completely different culture and background than any of you here in Canada. I wish that I could finish school at 3:00pm and do whatever I love to do, but that is not how it is in China. There, life consists of waking up at 5:30am, going to class at 6:30am all the way until 9:30pm only with a 2-hour lunch break. That is 13 hours, 12-14 classes per day and school only allowed students to come back home once (2 days) a month or twice (2nights 3 days) a month during grade 10-12 which made me like machine. We only had 2 Physical Education classes twice a week and the maximum duration of P.E. was 40 mins, in which I could only enjoy 40 mins of basketball. I got suspended for 2 weeks from school because the school director caught me using my lunch break to play basketball instead of studying or napping.
Finally, I joined the school team when I was grade 11 and we finished 7th place in the Provincial tournament of the Shandong Province. That is when I realized how much I loved being a part of a basketball team, how good I felt when I was with my teammates and coaches. Ever since, I have loved basketball as well as team sports. I love when we do something for each other and later feeling great about it. Making my family and friends proud is a wonderful thing in life and always made me feel very special. Thank you basketball, for teaching me so many things in life.
2017-2018: The official stepped on the court day at the home court:
What a day, I was living in the dream. I truly appreciated these moments. I want to thank to our coaching staffs especially Coach Kevin Hanson and my teammates. My dream is : I want to play for UBC. I didn’t give up on myself no matter how many people told me that’s unrealistic. Maybe they are right, but I just didn’t want to lose hope. I believe I can wear the jersey and fight for a National Championship with the boys. I try to get better every day even though I know it’s SUPER HARD and I just try to be the best I can be, I try to earn the spot. I have finally calmed down a bit now, as my 5-year dream came true on the night, the dream of stepping on the home court and playing for UBC became a reality.
Moreover, stepping on the home court means a tremendous amount to me. People told me to quit almost every year, people laughed at me because they think my dream was crazy, people joked about me. I met way too many negative situations outside the court in the past 5 years. However, thank you to a lot people as well. So many other people kept inspiring me and motivating me just to not give up. Thanks to UBC, and our sport organization and especially our coaches and my teammates who are always helping me. I just can’t say enough thanks to the boys and friends, and whoever keeps supporting me and believing me, and always got my back.
My belief is that people probably have 15~20 intervals of 5-year-time-periods in their lives, and for me, this is those 5 years, and they were definitely worth it after the night. I cannot explain how amazing it was! Essentially, reality is that Basketball is just a segment of people’s lives, just the same way as shooting and making a shot is just a segment of basketball, but the journey will make you become a better person and successful leader in life through these experiences. Everyone looked at me and cheered for me, the feeling is surreal and extraordinary, and yeah, there was pressure on me as I was nervous, but after that night, a lot of that pressure is gone! I’m more calm and more relaxed now and I’m sure I’ll be more myself on the court, that’s be a dead eye spot shooter.
I went home on that night and watched Jeremy Lin’s first ever NBA game when he was with the Golden State Warriors, as he played last 2 mins 33 seconds, and we both didn’t do anything too crazy. I feel huge honour and pride towards and from him as well. Moreover, I’ll stay humble because I know a lot of other people in my position probably will do better than me. I’ll keep striving! Never stop to be the best we can be. The journey will continue to be great!
Charles Dai, UBC Men’s Basketball.
Any individuals in sports and fitness who would like to share their voice, please submit to hank@hankfittraining.com