Junior Mackenzie Mayo tried to be a gymnast for about two weeks before she realized she hated it.
Gymnastics was just one amongst the many other hobbies she’d tried and turned away from, but she has always had a home on the basketball court.
“I’ve done horseback riding, I did piano, and I tried gymnastics for a minute, but that didn’t go very well,” Mackenzie said. “I tried volleyball, too, but that was in fifth grade, so I think it probably didn’t work out because I was scared of a new thing. My dad didn’t play organized basketball, but he played pickup a lot when I was growing up, and that’s what got me into it. He would take us to the park just to shoot around, and then I decided to play in seventh grade to do something with my time.”
The dedication and fascination that Mackenzie holds for basketball has grown over the years, and no other hobby of hers could ever compare in entirety.
But every hobby begins somewhere, and Mackenzie’s began with learning from her dad.
“We live right near a park, so my dad would take [my sister and I] there to play,” Mackenzie said. “We’d go there when I was younger, and some of my favorite memories are of him kind of coaching us, the way parents do—coaching my shots and whatnot. Part of the reason I took it up [in the first place] was to make him proud.”
As anybody can likely attest, finding a passion takes time, and Mackenzie was able to find hers early on in life, which allowed her much more room to grow and learn on that path.
Mackenzie’s journey into basketball as a full-time hobby has not been one without struggle over time, but her growth has proven present in different ways in her life. Primarily, the emotional aspect associated with her passion for basketball has become a prominent piece of her social life, regardless of the extent of that effect.
“I wouldn’t say it particularly affects [my school or social life] in a huge way,” Mackenzie said. “But, definitely, if I do badly, then I tend to be like, ‘I wish I got more into the game,’ whereas if I do well, then I’m more talkative the next few days. It’s the complete opposite if it goes badly, so it definitely does affect my mood.”
With her overall mood in generic settings comes a more deep-seated sense of accomplishment and confidence in herself as a player and a person.
Mackenzie is fortunate enough to be able to recognize this confidence and value it through her growing love for the sport.
“I’ve definitely become more confident in myself,” Mackenzie explained. “Mainly, it’s just because I’ve put so much time into it. Obviously, at first, it’s like, ‘Oh, what am I doing? How does this work?’ But now, I know how it goes and I know what to do. That makes it a lot more fun [and enjoyable as a whole].”
Just like anybody involved in a sport—or any hobby, for that matter—Mackenzie has a process by which she plays and prepares to play, and it allows her to find her balance.
Once she gets in that mindset, she can reach her peak.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t say anything goes through my head [when I’m playing],” Mackenzie said. “It’s really just focus and instinct, like telling myself, ‘get back, set up on offense.’ You’re not actively thinking about any one thing, but you know what you need to do. I just really love it and I’m kind of rolling with it, and I’m excited to see where it goes in the future.”
Mackenzie understands that her dedication to her passion is the key to her success, and it provides her an outlet for any stress in her life.
She would wholeheartedly urge somebody to participate in some hobby, be it horseback riding, piano, gymnastics, or, her personal forte, basketball.
“The beginning is definitely going to be bad no matter what,” Mackenzie explained, “but if you put the time into it, you can get to be really good at it. It’s never too late to start, really. Confidence is a really big thing, so if you have a string of really bad games or play poorly, it’s really discouraging. Even with just one bad game, the whole week I’ll [think about it], and it’s like, ‘Oh, that was really bad,’ but I always push through it. It’s definitely one of the challenges.”
