Jyair Fields was no stranger to success, playing in championship games when he was in 7th and 8th grade on the school basketball team. When Fields went to high school, he was one of the top players on the team, earning a starting position all four years and posting 1,000 points in two years.
Friends, coaches, teammates all told Fields that he had a future in basketball and to never give it up.
Fields would continue to play every single game like it was the last game he would ever play.
After high school Fields applied and was accepted to Potomac State College where he planned to continue playing. However, the coach did not have Fields on the starting lineup. Instead Fields spent more time on the sidelines than on the court.
Fields was asked to be a red shirt on the team, meaning he would not play at all during the season, but would still practice with the team. The coach told Fields that he would play after being a red shirt on the team for the entire season. Fields was not interested in the offer to red shirt. Fields was not looking to sitting on the sideline for the whole season before getting his chance to play.
Fields had had enough of sitting on the sidelines, knowing he should be on the court and more than a red shirt.
Fields then began to look at other options, other colleges and universities where he could play. Fields then found Cabrini University and decided to transfer to Cabrini for the academic and athletic opportunities that were present there. Fields saw the campus and loved the beautiful and peaceful campus, saw the chance of being successful after he graduated from Cabrini University, and saw somewhere which was much closer to home.
Now a freshman at Cabrini University, majoring in exercise science and minoring in sports management, Fields knew he would still face more challenges. Before the season began Fields would weight lift three times a week and was physically active every single day to make sure that he would be prepared for the season ahead of him.
On Oct. 15, Fields would suffer a groin injury. This injury would lead to three weeks of therapy before he would be able to play again, suffering the injury on Oct. 15 and waiting until Nov. 5 to be able to play again.
“[The] injury is the only thing holding me back,” Fields said before the start of the season.
Fields would be able to play at the start of the season. However, the coach wants Fields to take it slow telling Fields that if he keep working, he will play.
Fields explained that after the recovery period is over, he would not start immediately.
“Coach wants me to take it slow at the start,” Fields said. Fields also explained that he knows he will get his chance to play in time, and he is looking forward to it.
Fields is now finished with his three week recovery period and working hard, looking for his chance to play every game like it’s the very last game he will ever play.
