#cyoproblems

When we think of competitive sports, CYO basketball is often one of the last on our lists. However, CYO basketball is, in my opinion, a secretly competitive sport. While many underestimate its athleticism, it should actually be recognized as an aggressive, yet ambitious sport. Through all of my years playing softball and witnessing seam-marks from the ball and bloody knees from sliding, I can officially say that the injuries in CYO basketball almost compare.

You would think that CYO basketball, of all sports, would be the least competitive. In fact, competitive CYO is almost an oxymoron. However, you have to be tenacious and vigorous if you want to attempt to avoid the inevitable. By inevitable, I mean getting kicked so that you fall. Literally. Getting pushed to the ground is just one of many things that makes CYO basketball ridiculously competitive.

Players will smack you, kick you, and elbow you in the face as if it's their job. Well, it's not. They'll also throw the ball at your face and give you disgusting bruises that take like, a month to go away. In addition to all of this, it is also very common to get tripped on purpose. This might just be the worst, especially since the gym floors are basically concrete. When your team only has eight players and four of them are purposely tripped and hurt their ankles, that's kind of a problem.

Winning the first place trophy last year...we keep it real.

The main reason why CYO has become so competitive is that the refs rarely call fouls on any of the players, so it only promotes fierce CYO competition. If you know you won't get a technical for smacking someone in the face...then why not do it? Don't think that just because we say a prayer before the game means we're going to play nice.

Nonetheless, CYO basketball is a very fun and...interesting...sport to play. Last year, we won the Diocese Championship, as shown in the picture above. This year, the St. Joe's CYO Girls basketball team is currently in their season, but it's going to take a lot more effort to win the championship again this year due to the increased competitiveness.

It may seem like I am ranting about the horrible injuries and sportsmanship in this sport. However, as a cross-country runner and competitive softball player, I'm definitely not complaining that CYO basketball is getting too competitive. I'm simply reminding you not to underestimate CYO basketball...because one day, it might be an Olympic sport or something like that. But let's be real, here.