Callie is on a Basketball Team in junior year in College.

She has now spent two years on the bench learning the system and working her butt off day in and day out. She’s earned a total of 02:59 actual game time on the basketball court in two years. 

It’s the latter half of her junior season on any given night where she finds herself comfortably on the end of the bench cheering her teammates on in a tight game when…

All of a sudden and unexpectedly Callie’s coach yells her name from the other end of the bench to get her warm-ups off and get in the game because two of her teammates have now fouled out in the 4th quarter and another just went to the locker room with a bloody nose that also requires a change in jerseys due to regulations… 

By the way, the score is tied and the other team is poised to take the lead with momentum and the crowd certainly on their side.

All eyes are on Callie as she checks in.

A quick glance to the other bench Callie sees the entire coaching staff look directly at her and immediately come up with a play.

She doesn’t need to use a lot of mental strength to know exactly who they are going to try and exploit.

The ball always finds the new player on the court…

That sinking feeling hits her gut when she realizes they’re coming for her…..  

She looks over at the bench and her coach is staring at her trying to read her body language trying to determine her mental state.

Was it a mistake to put her in?

This game has potential playoff implications.

Can her team and coaches trust her to make good decisions and carry out the game plan?

Is she prepared…  

She huddles up with her teammates but the fans for the other team are so loud and rowdy making it hard to hear the play calls…

She then realizes the fans are looking at her too because they know exactly where the play is going. They’re practically drooling with anticipation of how many quick points their team can score on the benchwarmer.

A look into her fan section and everyone either has arms crossed or hands on their head with looks of concern or defeat already written across their face and reverberating through their collective energy field.

They have no idea what’s about to happen but it can’t be good. They are just puckering up hoping it isn’t that bad.

She looks down to see her hands shaking, she feels her gut in knots, she’s having trouble focusing because right now her only focus is just trying to keep down her lunch when… 

Suddenly a flash of some distant, long-forgotten shadow of a memory of some kind of webinar she was half listening to said something about mental preparation, mastering emotions and preparing for the unexpected.  

She snaps back to reality…

Just then she remembered her parents and high school coach are in the stands for the first time in her collegiate career because the game was pretty close to home and they wanted to come see and support her.

Oh, and there’s a few old friends and ex teammates she used to play with in attendance as well.  

One more glance at the bench and the two players that fouled out are wishing they were in the game and she wasn’t. It’s not that they don’t like her but she hasn't proven herself yet and they really don’t want to put a game situation with this much magnitude in her hands so they also feel very concerned even though they try to hide it and be supportive.

As the huddle breaks to resume play she realizes she didn’t hear the defensive shift called so she asks what D they’re running and her teammates say BLACK D. The look of bewilderment on her face told them they had to be more specific so they say the new shift coach gave us yesterday in practice.

BLACK D, remember? You remember the new plays, right?!?! 

The plays…?!?!

Just then she remembers she skimmed the playbook last night with the new plays coach added 

…because she didn’t have time to go over them thoroughly 

…with all the stress she’s been trying to manage keeping up with tests and quizzes from her advanced biology class 

…that she asked her professor to give her an extension on because she’s been traveling so much with the team and hasn't had the time 

…but he denied her request with a smug look

….by the way, no one appreciates smugness on the face of a 60 year old, balding genius with his pocket protector, coke bottle glasses, lack of empathy and the smell of mothballs.

…she really wants to wring his… 

Fear creeps in when she realizes the ball could actually end up in her hands. 

What?!?! I don’t want the ball…it’s too much pressure!!!

And then she begins to worry she’s going to let everyone down…

Her mind brings up a memory from her long forgotten past, that only comes up in moments like these as a self preservation move, about the time she bricked a free throw that cost her team the championship in summer league when she was 10 years old.

She also remembered last week when her coach called her out at practice and asked what she was thinking because it obviously wasn’t anything related to the execution of a play involving a round ball.

She begins wondering why she is even here enduring all this emotional turmoil and anxiety for a total of 2:59 seconds of actual game time in more than two seasons only to be thrown into the lion’s den with little more than great genetics, a decent [but greatly improved] work ethic and likeable personality for protection?!?!

She then realizes she must be crazy because all this pressure certainly isn’t worth it!

She begins to question and judge herself for not going to a JC [so she could have at least gotten more game time] as she questions her sanity and abilities.

She quickly arrives at the conclusion that she is not qualified to be here or quite frankly on any elite team because she’s just not that good.

And if she’s just not that good at this thing she once thought she was really good at, that she really enjoyed, then what is she good for…?

And then it hits her that every person in the gym has at least 5 social media accounts and she is about to be the next viral conversation of what not to do when thrown into a high pressure game situation. 

They’ll probably make a meme of her face right now.!!!

They’ll also question coach’s decision to put her in and he’ll have to face the media and explain his decision.

What if he gets fired…?

Meanwhile, the ref blows the whistle to start play and her man has the ball…