Air Force baller Published Aug. 8, 2016 By Airman 1st Class Christian Sullivan Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Waiting with the rest of the group, she calmly plays some one-on-one basketball listening for her name to be called. Finally, with only a few people left waiting, she hears her name called. She steps into the coaches office with all of the staff staring as she walked in. She looked at the emotionless faces as they delivered her fate. Senior Airman Avery Hale, 5th Maintenance Squadron aerospace ground equipment journeyman, took a tough ride to get to this point. “The first part was a training camp, and we had about 20 girls come try out,” Hale said. “We had two and three-a-days so it got pretty rough. It was the first time I was excited to be back in Minot when it finally ended.” Being from Cleveland, Hale grew up playing basketball at an early age. “My earliest memories are from family reunions playing basketball with my cousins,” Hale said. “I was probably about 5-years-old when I was able to actually dribble a ball.” Hale had a few local heroes when it came to basketball. “Early in life I had a cousin who was a really good basketball player, he was one of the main people I would look forward to seeing at family reunions to play against,” Hale said. “Before Lebron played for Cleveland, when he played for St. Vincent-St. Mary, I started following him his senior year. I was already a Cavs fan, so when he got drafted there I became an even bigger fan. He’s my guy when you talk about basketball or famous players, he’s my favorite hands down.” Hale didn’t take the most conventional route when she joined her school’s boys’ basketball team, but that didn’t stop her from playing her hardest. “From third grade to eighth grade I went to a charter school and they didn’t have a women’s basketball team, so I had to play with the boys,” Hale said. “I felt included, there was no gap.” When Hale originally joined the Air Force it wasn’t directly tied to playing basketball, but some of the aspects of the game is what made her want to join. “I joined August 26, 2014,” Hale said. “My main reason was I played basketball my whole life through high school and college and when I graduated college, I missed the team atmosphere and the discipline.” After enlisting, Hale slowly thought more and more about joining the Air Force team. “It was in the back of my mind while I was in basic training,” Hale said. “I didn’t know how to do it but I knew I wanted to do it, when I got to tech school I learned a little bit more about the process of joining.” Hale didn’t train as much as she wanted to before going to the training camp, and she said she regrets not practicing enough beforehand. “I tried to play as much pick-up ball as possible,” Hale said. “I wasn’t hardcore in the gym like I should have been and I learned that when I got there.” Hale said she did not give her best effort during the first part of the tryout sessions, but a strong finish would prove beneficial. “Do I have to go home or not?” Hale asked her coaches after they were asking what shift she worked back at Minot, as if she had to go back to work. With a sigh of relief, she was told her last day of practicing hard pushed her through and put her on the Air Force women’s basketball team. Hale was able to celebrate her personal victory with a couple of close family members over the phone. “I told my mom after I left the gym,” Hale said. “She told me my grandfather never doubted me and knew that I would make it.” That celebration was short-lived. Before the tournament started, Hale’s world was shaken as she heard terrible news only a few days after her favorite team had just won the NBA championship. “The day of the Cavs championship parade my grandfather passed away,” Hale said. “During stretching before practice one of my teammates told me my phone was ringing and that it was my mom. When I answered my mom told me my grandfather had passed.” Although she was devastated by this news, she was able to go home and see her grandfather’s funeral and be surrounded by loved ones. There was a silver lining though, as her spot on the team was secured. She was able to represent not only the Air Force in an Armed Forces tournament, but her family’s name as well, something she knows made her grandfather proud.