Brian Gotta

Below is an excerpt from my youth basketball novel, The Unbelievable Point Guard, which is a great read for elementary school-aged children. You can get a copy for your son or daughter here.

The rest of the practice Clifton ran with the White team. It appeared that because he made one mistake on defense, Coach Watson was demoting him to second-string. That settled it. Coach Watson hated him and was just looking for an excuse to get him off the team. Well, Clifton thought. If he doesn’t need me-I don’t need him.

When practice was over a million questions were swirling through Clifton’s head. What just happened? he wondered. Is Denny the starting guard now, and I’m on the bench? Is Coach just trying to send me a message, or is this supposed to be permanent? Why is it fair that I am the only one who has to switch to White after a mistake? Clifton considered confronting Coach Watson. He stopped on his way into the locker room and watched Coach putting balls in the rack. Aw, forget it, Clifton groused. What’s the use? If Coach wants me to ride the pine, I’ll ride it. It won’t be long before we’re down by ten and he puts me back in anyway.

But just then Coach Watson looked up and saw Clifton looking at him.

“Clifton,” he said in a tired and sad-sounding voice. “I need to speak to you in my office. Get showered and I’ll see you in ten minutes.”