Basketballer Swaine aims for the pros after COVID-19 depression

"Basketball has driven me to start my life again. You need to understand what rock bottom is before you can reach your height."

That was the humble but hard-won wisdom of Micah-Imani Swaine of P.H.A.S.E. 1 Academy, who has reclaimed his passion for basketball after losing it because of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has bounced back to aspiring to play at the professional level.

According to Swaine, the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed his dreams of getting a scholarship to play basketball.

"I was planning to leave Jamaica to go to a high school to reclass and finish my last year in the USA, so I could get a better opportunity to play basketball in college. At the time, it was basketball over everything, even over my dream career in mechanical engineering.

"When I got an opportunity to leave, I took it, and my mother was with me trying to help me get a scholarship and loan to go overseas to sustain me.

"COVID came, and they pulled the scholarship. It felt like the end of the world to me. My dreams were crushed right in front of me. I stopped playing basketball for a year and lost 40 pounds. I was in my head a lot and got skinny," he said.

NO LOVE

With depression taking a toll, the 20-year-old point guard said it was difficult to find the love for basketball again.

"I thought basketball was not going to take me anywhere again. My family and close friends were worried about me. I never left my house for a year; it was really bad, and I even got house colour. A friend visited me one day and said, 'Micah, we don't like you like this; you can still have a life and train and still play basketball for fun.'"

Slowly, in 2021, Swaine's love for the sport came back through people close to him.

"I had to retain it and retrain myself and my mind to learn to love the game again. At Campion College, I trained in the morning and created a routine to get my weight back to where it was. I grew an inch taller, 6'3", and stuck to a certain routine to help my mental and physical growth. I didn't reach out to schools overseas about a scholarship at that point because I aged out," Swaine explained.

Swaine's first academic year in sixth form was poor because he was still battling with depression. However, he managed to pull himself together in his final year and applied to schools, of which four accepted him.

FEELING HIMSELF

Officially joining P.H.A.S.E 1 Academy last year was when Swaine started feeling himself again.

"My biggest motivation is my career. Playing with the academy is to help me get a scholarship overseas and start my life. After high school I was done with basketball, but my friend convinced me to play one more game with him.

"We had a tournament in Montego Bay against some overseas people and that was when I met coach Wayne Dawkins, CEO of P.H.A.S.E 1 Academy. Impressed with my skills, he convinced my mother to make me join the academy," Swaine explained.

Currently captain of P.H.A.S.E 1 Academy, Swaine said his routine in training keeps him disciplined and focused for upcoming events this summer.

"I have been eating properly, waking up and going to bed on time. I am feeling much better and can't wait to see where this goes. I am looking forward to the future by taking it one day at a time," Swaine said.