This handball court is located on Roosevelt Island, NY in a park called 'Al Lewis Playground' (the actor who played Grandpa Munster in the old tv show, 'The Munsters').
While I had many places growing up in NYC to do wall-ball, this one played a role when I'd come home from college breaks and practice - and fantasize - as if I was playing in college, because art school didn't have any sports. About 98% of the time, it was ONLY me doing wall ball. Everyone else would look, inquire or just tell me how they have seen, or knew somebody that played "that sport".
To this day, each time I'm there, mostly to visit my parents, I pass by the wall and think back often to those many sessions. I think back at my urban upbringings and making the best of any situation, which surprises any 'conventional' crowd. I think about how pure determination, and a healthy obsession, were total factors. I think about the countless mistakes made on that wall and having no one to blame. I think back at my parents, who only saw me play 3x and never looked at sports as a popularity contest, rather a recreation. I think back at having never been on an elite travel and club team, and still competing with those who have played all the way through. I can go on with a personal list.
Like starting a business alone, you have to love something so much that you're willing to do it solely on your own. The biggest take away from all this is that when you are doing something by yourself - like wall ball, for me - you truly learn about YOURSELF. And sometimes, that is the best lesson in the long run.
All images ©TheArtofLax™ by Vincent Ricasio
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