Shooting Baskets

by Kristi Potts on 03/28/13

3/4/13

 

Gage Palmer has done this a million times. He circles the Montgomery County Family YMCA gym, eyes a basket and shoots. Sometimes he punches it through… sometimes he doesn’t but it doesn’t matter to Gage as long as he has a ball in his hand and a basket to shoot at.

 

All that hard work put in at the YMCA and on the Red Oak High School Junior varsity basketball team paid off in spades on Senior Night when Gage earned his first start. On the game’s first possession, Gage earned his first ever points as a varsity basketball player missing his first shot before grabbing and scoring on his own rebound and for the game’s first points en route to 78-51 victory over rival Shenandoah.

 

“It was the greatest moment of my life,” said Gage with a smile. “The crowd went wild. I felt like a superstar.”

 

Life has never been easy for 19-year-old Gage who suffered brain damage related to a birth defect when he was only three months old. Because of the damage, Gage has learning disabilities, limited coordination and dexterity but that has never stopped him from what he loves best... and that’s basketball.

 

Next time you come into the Y, you could almost be sure to find Gage shooting baskets or putting some time in at the Bulkeley Health & Wellness Area.

 

“I put in a lot of time at the YMCA and in junior and high school shooting baskets,” said Gage. “I like to keep fit so I walk just about wherever I need to go and work out when I can at the Y.”