"I want you to kit up"

Lavoris Jerry, Jamal Johnson, Steve Parillon . . . Dan Hills? Was this really happening? For the first time, I was suiting up for the Thunder team and was filling the jersey of all these previous great players.

The No 12 has a fulfilled history within Worthing basketball and I was getting ready to add to it. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the year.

The occasion was a friendly against local National League opposition, the Bognor Pirates. I had been training with Thunder for a couple of months and on the Wednesday before the game, head coach Gary "Chicken" Smith asked me the question: "You ready for Saturday night?".

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Bemused by this, I stared blankly and confused at him and I was shocked when he told me: "I want you to kit up.

"Be ready".

The butterflies immediately set in but were accompanied with smiles and the feeling that I had finally made it.

Ever since I first watched a game at the Leisure Centre in the era of the greats '” Steve Nelson, Cleave Lewis and James Hamilton '” I had dreamed of one day following in their footsteps and being a part of basketball history within the town.

The first time I went to a structured training session was in the days when the Bears were in Worthing and coaching us was All-Star guard from the USA, Larry Coates. At the end of the two hours I had fallen in love with the game and he handed me a signed basketball and said: "Here, this is for you. Keep it".

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I still have that ball to this day, although the signature has worn off from my using it at Worthing's "Mecca of Basketball", the West Park Courts.

From playing infamous games of "Jordan" and "Four on Four" at West Park I had gone from this to being part of the gametime player introductions on a Saturday night. Never had I been so nervous in my whole life. Although I was anxious, it was good to be welcomed in the dressing room huddle by Steve Gayle and this helped me through it.

To get to this stage in my progression hasn't been easy and I haven't done it all on my own. My first coach was Tim Cutting who runs Worthing D&D, a club for all age groups and abilities. At first I was useless, but over my first few months I improved a great deal and this was down to the ability of Tim and his coaching staff to deal with beginners.

I moved to Angmering Cobras for Under-18s and quickly adapted. Danny Hildreth is the coach and his knowledge of the game is unbelievable. For me, playing at Angmering has moved me up an extra level because Danny's way of thinking is incredible and I feel this has definitely improved the mental side of my game.

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Sitting on the bench against Bognor Pirates was an experience, to say the least. Players and coaches alike, both have a lot to say and the majority of it is well directed. After waiting 36 minutes, my time finally came and the nerves went.

Playing basketball is what I love to do and to get nervous for that would have been silly. I was told to hussle by coach Chris Mayes and that's what I did. The first touch I had was a steal and it brought jubilant chants from "The Back Row Boys".

In the four minutes I was on the court I didn't manage to score, but so what? I came up with an assist along with my steal but the most important stat I got was minutes. After all, this has been my ambition for a while and not everybody gets to live their dreams.

As for next season, who knows? All I have to do is keep my head down and keep working hard. To worry about it would be stupid. All I have, for now, are my ambitions '” and to pull that jersey on again would be "living the dream".

Dan Hills will next write about what it is like to train and practice with the Thunder squad.

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