Hey steemians !!!! My name is Nwankwo Ikedichim popularly known as Keddy. I want to talk a little bit about my town first of all. My adopted town as I like to call it because I moved to Port Hacourt because of college.Port Hacourt is the capital of Rivers state. Rivers state is called the treasure base of the nation Nigeria because it is rich in crude oil. It is located in the southern part of Nigeria.
I’m a medical student in the University of Port Harcourt. I train at the university of Port Hacourt Teaching Hospital. I’m in my fifth year of medical school and finding time to indulge in extracurricular activities has always been a challenge to me and other medical students. Medical school here in Nigeria offers little or no time for extracurricular activities and when it does, most students prefer to spend the time with their heads buried six feet deep in their books. The fear of failure transcends the cravings for pleasure. This fear however hasn’t blunted my love for sports
My first love when it comes to sports was football. My dad is a football fanatic and he introduced my brothers and I to the sport. I grew up watching classic matches he had recorded on VHS tapes. I vividly remember two of the most watched recordings. Both games were played during the 1996 olympics held in the city of Atlanta in the United States of America. Nigeria won the gold medal in football and the semifinal and final matches were played almost every week. Imagine watching two matches every week for 10 years!! Yes! 10 years. I swear I remember every second of those matches over 10 years later. We also watched the Champions League judiciously. Every member of my family had a team they supported . I couldn’t relate because the only team I loved was the Nigherian team. After s while I became a Real Madrid fan. I can’t remember how it happened though, I just found myself supporting the great Real Madrid. I had a little love for Chelsea and Arsenal while growing up though. This was because I was told that Nigerian players were members of their football teams. Kanu Nwankwo played for Arsenal while Celestine Babayaro played for Chelsea. I had affection for Arsenal more because I shared the same surname with ‘Kanu’ (I bet you didn’t notice).
I played basketball for the first time in 2010 on a holiday trip to Ghana. I met my dad’s coworker and later got introduced to his son who loved the sport. He was my ‘coach’ and he taught me the fundamentals of basketball and that’s how the love affair began. I spent just over two weeks there before returning to my country Nigeria. For two years I didn’t touch a basketball. It seemed like I would never play the sport again. This was mainly due to the fact that all my friends were football fanatics . In 2013 I was conversing with one of my classmates and he lamented that he didn’t have anyone to play basketball with . He didn’t believe his ears when I told him that I ‘played a little ‘. The next Saturday, we were on the basketball court!!!! Lool I was so horrible! I sucked really bad. I couldn’t bounce the ball properly, my shooting technique was bad other basketballers had to tell me to leave the court and learn with the amateurs. I decided not to come to the court again but Ebi my friend encouraged me to practice more and I did. Guess what.......... I got better and better. People now tell me to come to the court (I’m now invited).
I love basketball so much it’s like I’m addicted. Right now I’m a HUGE fan of Lebron James and yes, a fan the Cleaveland Cavaliers. Lebron James is the basketballer I would have liked to be if I were a professional basketballer. He’s outstanding on the offense and fantastic in the defense. He’s 6’7 of pure talent. He makes his team tick.When I travel to a new place , the first thing I do is to look for the nearest court. Basketball has created an outlet for me to relieve myself of the stress of medical school. Sometimes it’s like the only thing that keeps me going . When I have a good day I go to the court, bad day....court, normal day court. When I play I forget all my troubles. It’s like for those 2 hours (I normally play from 4:30 to 6:30) I’m completely without troubles . I’ve taught my younger brother and he now plays. I’ve actually tried to introduce so many people to the sport because it’s not just about the fitness, it’s also therapeutic. The fitness benefits from playing the sport cannot be overlooked though. Playing basketball is good for the heart. It’s a good cardio workout. Not just cardio, it works out the whole body. The arms, legs, thighs and gluteal muscles are all involved. Most medical students live a very sedentary lifestyle. Their lives revolve around the classroom-hostel-church orbit. Recently, I succeeded in getting 5 more players from my class. Four of them played a little in high school so they have an idea. One of them has never played before. He reminds me of myself a few years back making all kinds of mistakes, ‘traveling ‘ and shooting ‘air balls’. I encourage him, I tell him he’ll improve with time. Getting more people to play gives me almost the same joy I get when I play because I know that somehow I’ve touched someone’ life positively.
People ask me how I have time for basketball and other activities ( I club occasionally) . I tell them that if you love something, you’ll make time for it because it’s a priority. Truth be told I don’t do intense practice and I don’t join the school team to participate in competitions. This is because I don’t care much about the professional part of the sport like making it to the Nigerian Basketball League or the NBA (yes! People in my team dream of playing Inthe NBA) . I love the way I feel when I play , I love running back to defend, I love aggressive layups, was love blocking , I love the counterattacks, I love making 3 point shots, I love the sweating and panting that goes with all of these. What more can I say???? I LOVE BASKETBALL!!!!!!