The Amateur Athlete

I don’t know how many of you watched any of the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament coverage – it gets far less attention than the men’s – but if you did, you’ll see where I’m coming from in the this post. The thing is, for the past two weeks, just about the only things that the media doing the women’s side covered were stories on Elena DelleDone.

If you don’t watch a lick of women’s basketball, and if you’re not from Delaware, then you probably don’t know who that is. In reality, she’s the best damn female basketball player in a long time. Now playing at Delaware (due to family issues which are a whole other amazing story), Elena was highly recruited to play at the best of the best schools since she was twelve (received scholarships from great programs like Tennessee, UNC, Duke, and UCONN before high school).

She won her AAU tournaments, played for Team USA around the world, absolutely dominated high school basketball (her school was a rival of mine), and went on to take a scholarship at UCONN.

So she’s really good? What’s the big deal? The thing is, DelleDone had already become sick of basketball. Burnt out. There was no passion left – she just relied on her sheer ability to keep her successful. Finally, it was too much. And she left UCONN shortly after arriving.

This short summary is merely an example of the rhetoric that the media embodies to glorify the amateur athlete in America. It is one of the things that I hate most in the world. DelleDone’s story turns out to be a success, after quitting basketball cold turkey, she returned a year later and led Delaware to a 30-1 record this past season.

But she’s the exception.

The pressure that our society places on top class amateur athletes is ridiculous. ESPN glorified former teenage stars like Michelle Wie and Freddy Adu, people meant to be the next big thing and who have now slipped out of the limelight. Sports Illustrated loves to have articles on high school athletes who are supposed to be the next big thing. Often though, the people surrounding these kids love their story and abilities more than the kids love the sport.

I know the feeling firsthand. By the time I was in seventh grade, I had wrestled in over thirty states, won nationals, all-Americaned twice, and had had several articles written about me. I had been recruited by high schools around the state since elementary school, and was heralded as the next four-time state champ.

But I fell off. I hated it. Got burnt out. And the people around me didn’t help. The rhetoric of writing about stories like this go far beyond what I think most people imagine. Society wants to write about the crazy success story and skills, they don’t want to know that it’s all a façade.