The Rookie Playbook: Part 6 Yvonne

After a long journey in basketball, from my youth, when I was in my first-ever camp, to now living my passion for basketball as a job, I would say I have reached a baller’s dream. I am living my dream, but I believe that the reality looks a lot different than what I expected.

I have just wrapped up my first official year as a professional after being drafted to the Indiana Fever and getting into training camp, then playing 8 months overseas in Spain. I will forever be grateful for my rookie year because it taught me so much about myself. My experience as a first-year pro was insightful. I came into it with a lot of expectations, the most prominent being that this year was either going to go well or badly, which it didn’t. Thankfully it went both well and badly, and I say that because I learned that my experiences were never supposed to be measured based on the results, but treated as a part of the journey that I am going through in my career. All the stories I gathered about being a pro and some horror stories of being a rookie were never meant to compare all that to what I was going through because my experience was never going to be like anyone else's, it was just supposed to be mine. If we wanted our stories to follow those of our idols, then we would be them, but we aren’t. All our experiences through life are exactly as they are. Some things don’t work out how we want them to and some do, but the first fault of ours is assuming that we had any control over how an experience was going to turn out. I learned that there is no point in putting unnecessary expectations on experiences I have no control over and that evaluating everything as a failure or success is pointless because that was never the point of going through what I go through. My process is going to be exactly what it turns out to be and I found that releasing control and leading with acceptance led me to a more gratifying and peaceful life overseas.

Now for navigating the professional side of basketball with that mentality, I have been enlightened to some aspects that I now take into practice. Where I start is asking myself what I want out of my career. At this point I get to dictate where I go, how much I want to pour into the sport, myself, or other aspects of my life. If a place is not working for me I can make that decision to switch because I now know it's not the end of the world and better will always be out there for me. Am I allowing myself to become who I want to be and leading the life I want? You have to be the one to ask yourself these questions and answer them because nobody else will in this professional space. I have a responsibility to myself because I am the only person that has to consistently be there for me. No one is going to make the right decisions for you except” you, and you have to learn to honour and embrace that.

The only person you owe it to impress, is yourself, so don't be afraid to disappoint people with the decision you make for yourself. We are lucky as athletes to have the autonomy to make these decisions for ourselves, so make them. I do it for the young girl who dreamed of these moments and to curate my happiness and make me proud, because I trust that I will be fine regardless of what anyone has to say about my career and life. Be your biggest supporter consistently, play and work for you, and you will place yourself in the spaces you deserve to be in.