While athletics are a great way to keep ourselves in shape, open opportunities, become a part of something bigger than ourselves, and gain us recognition, it could be argued that the most important aspect of sports are the life lessons that we take away from them.
According to senior player Ryan Charity, Cabrini basketball has helped him with “Just being dedicated to something,” Charity said.
“Being able to persevere and push through. It helped me to learn to manage my time better, school, basketball, work. It helped me to be competitive, I was always kind of competitive. Cabrini helped me grow as a person, helped me stay focused in the classroom, you can’t play basketball without having the right grades, so that motivated me as well.”
Sports have been in the New Jersey-born Charity’s life as far back as he can remember, something that he attributes to his father wanting to keep him out of trouble.
“Growing up, my dad always kept me involved in sports,” Charity said. “I was always playing basketball, baseball, football, soccer, whatever it was, things to just keep me active and keep me on the right path and not hanging out on the streets, getting in trouble, things like that. I credit my dad for keeping me on the right path, he always had me on the court, or on the field.”
As time went on though, Charity started to narrow down the sports he played as there just wasn’t enough time to go around for him to participate in all of them going into Pennsbury High School.
“I came into high school and I mostly focused on basketball and baseball, and then my freshman year, coming into high school, they asked me to play varsity basketball, so once I played varsity, that took up a lot of my time,” Charity said. “
I had less time to focus on baseball. I was playing AAU in the summer for baseball, and I played on the freshman junior varsity baseball team. basketball took up chunks of my time so that’s where my focus went mostly in high school.”
It was Pennsbury’s environment and winning tradition that attracted Charity and inspired him to focus more on basketball.
“What really inspired me, my high school team, Pennsbury, coming into high school they were really good, I mean like district champs, they went to state tournaments and everything,” Charity said.
“In eighth grade, going to their games and seeing the gym being packed full of people, these big kids who were going to colleges and playing basketball, the atmosphere was a really good one at Pennsbury and I like the way they played. It motivated me to play basketball more.”
Playing basketball has basically become therapeutic for Charity, as he uses the game as an escape for things going on in his life. Each time he steps out onto the floor, he also keeps his family in his heart.
Charity said, “scoring is fun, dunking the ball is fun, just playing basketball really takes my mind off of things. If I have stuff going on, when I step on the court, put the jersey on, you really forget about all that stuff and you just focus on the game and have fun. Making my parents and family proud. I always love to see them in the stands when they come to the games, that’s really who I play for.”
When it came time for Charity to choose which college he would move on to, the Cabrini basketball team made him feel right at home.
“When I came on my visit, I met with assistant coach Saleem Brown and (2008-2014) head coach Marcus Kahn,” Charity said. “They showed me around the campus and things like that, I really liked the gym. The guys on the team, they were good guys, they accepted me right away. Just the atmosphere, I felt kind of at home. There are good people here so I’m glad I chose to come to Cabrini.”
The home-like atmosphere of Cabrini proved to be an ingredient to success, as Charity was on the 2012 and 2014 CSAC conference championship teams. Due to a death in his family and needing to focus on his grades, Charity sat out the 2013 season even though he was able to still attend practices and games to support his teammates.
Charity went from appearing in only three games his first year with the team, to appearing in 26 games his senior season, starting seven of them and becoming a key player for the Cavaliers. His average of 12.1 points per game was good for third on the team, and his 3.7 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists made him a valuable contributor, to the 19-8 team who made it to the CSAC tournament semi-finals, where they suffered a thrilling two point loss to Gwynedd Mercy University. According to Charity, with all that the team was able to accomplish he still considers the season a success.
“I think I had a good season, we had a season collectively as a team. We had some guys really step up, and we had a lot of improvement together as a unit. We didn’t win the CSAC championship, but we did get a bid into the National NCAA DIII tournament, so that was a great experience,” Charity said.
“We went to Vermont and it was just an overall good experience just to be able to make the tournament in my senior year was a blessing in itself. That doesn’t happen every year to most teams so just being able to get into the tournament, go to Vermont, play one last time with the guys in that NCAA tournament setting, was a good experience and that made this season a success.”
When it comes to his favorite memories of playing basketball at Cabrini, the games where he was able to catch a hot-hand and just winning were the ones that stuck out to him the most.
“Having the good games that I had I guess you can say. I had a 30 point game, a couple 26 point-plus games, those were good experiences, just being able to get the flow and scoring the ball, that’s something that I enjoy, but just winning I guess,” Charity said. “At Cabrini, we have a winning tradition here, so just being able to have successful seasons throughout my career here and not having losing records, or being unhappy because the team together isn’t a good team. I played with a lot of talented guys.”
Charity will always appreciate his experience at Cabrini because it has made him a better person, giving him life lessons that he can take with him off the court for life.
“Managing your time, because at Cabrini, playing basketball takes up a lot of your time just to be successful, winning those games, you have to put the time, the work, the effort in on the court, to be able to win those games, and be successful in your seasons. That was a challenge for me at first, but then I was able to get myself in sort of a routine so that way I was able be successful in the classroom as well,” Charity said.
Basketball is definitely something that Charity hopes to stay involved in as it has become a passion for him. He hopes for an opportunity to turn it to a career and a way for him to give back to others.
“I love basketball so it’s always a game that I’ll be around. Whether it’s playing pickup in the gym, or summer leagues, if I was to be able to maybe get a job training kids, or working with kids, I’d definitely do that, playing basketball,” Charity said.
“Just to be a positive influence in young kids lives I think is something that everybody needs growing up. Just a role model, someone to look up to, somebody who’s been there before, because every kid doesn’t have that growing up. Just to be able to work with kids and maybe inspire a kid or two, that would make me happy.”
When it comes to Cabrini, he has hope that their athletic program continues to grow and prosper.
Charity said, “shoutout to all the seniors, good luck to them, good luck to the future of Cabrini basketball, and the rest of the Cabrini sports here, I’m sure they’re going to continue progress and get better as a unit and as a school. I’m sure we’ll continue to grow, and be successful.”
