Ben Dalton has been playing sports since the day he can remember. No matter what the season maybe he was always active and looking to participate in anything that would let him run around and have fun with his friends.
Around the age of five is when Dalton fell in love with the sport basketball.
“I honestly would describe it as my first love at first sight,” Dalton said.
When he was five he didn’t have any reason to love the sport other than it got him out of the house and to enjoy time with his friends.
“Every time I had a ball in my hand I felt like I had possession of my life” he stated.
Dalton continued playing for a competitive basketball team throughout elementary school and middle school. Finally, when he reached high school he was able to try out for the basketball team.
“I played on the junior Chieftains leading up to my high school team, and now it only felt right for me to make the team. It’s what I waited for my entire childhood” he explained.
After playing basketball for two years, Dalton had to undergo double hip surgery which would then set him out for at least one season.
“I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. I sat on the bench at every game and took stats for the team just so I could feel like I was still a part of the team” he said.
After his senior year of high school, Dalton knew he would soon join the University of Nebraska Omaha as a maverick but also knew there was no way to continue his first love on the collegiate level.
Dalton said, “I had a former teammate who was a few years older reach out to me and offered me to play with his team on an intramural basketball team.”
This was the first time he heard there was such a thing at UNO. He finally thought he had found a way to play the game again without having to play full out and on the division one level.
“My first game back I was so out of shape” he laughed “ but I couldn’t stop smiling running up and down the court.”
Dalton played on an intramural team with three of his former high school teammates, something he never thought would happen again.
“I got the chance to play with some seniors that graduated when I was a freshman in high school. I learned so much from them in high school about the game. I never thought I would be able to play with them again” he said.
Playing with former teammates brought the memories of high school basketball back to his memory.
Being on the intramural basketball team brought Dalton closer to UNO in more ways than he knew.
“I was a freshman just here trying to find my spot in my new college life,” Dalton said.
With the intramural team, he met new friends, found a way for him to work out and it led him to be able to make his team next year.
“I struggled to find my place in college because I was so active in high school but being on this team gave me my spot” he explained.
Dalton has since maintained these friendships with his teammates and even plans to create his team to play with next season.
To play on the team you must attend UNO with at least one credit hour or if you attend Metro pay a ten-dollar fee. After that, they will register and pay a fee for the team.
“They have different days and different amounts of people that can play so it’s all up to you on how much your team wants to play,” Dalton said.
Finding the intramural basketball team let Dalton find his place in his college life and let him fall in love with his first love all over again.
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Robert Media Storytelling 