Season 1 Episode 12: ⚾️🏀 Double Threat — Elijah Gammage on Mastering Basketball and Baseball

In Season 1, Episode 12 of the Royal Vision Podcast, Coach Matthew 👑 sits down with multi-sport powerhouse Elijah Gammage—a rare breed of athlete dominating both the basketball court 🏀 and the baseball field ⚾️. From navigating the pressures of dual training schedules ⏱️ to staying mentally locked in 🧠 through two completely different games, Elijah breaks down what it really means to be versatile, disciplined, and built different 💪. This episode dives into identity 🪞, work ethic 🔥, and the mindset of someone who refuses to be put in a box 📦. Whether you hoop, swing, or grind in any lane—this one’s for you 🎙️👟.

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Transcript

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Welcome to the Kingdom Guys. This is episode 12 of Royal Vision Podcast. I'm your host, coach Matthew got another special guest today. He is a basketball player from New Berlin, Wisconsin. He's been playing at a high level for the last three years. Currently plays for Team Hero. He is a point guard. His name is Elijah Ga. What's up bro? What's up? Thanks for being on here. Yeah, so most of the time I have basketball players on here. You're a basketball player. What led you to the sport of basketball? It was just like, I like the team. Okay. Like having the team and you've gotta lead off that guy and the guy's gotta lead off you. And it's just all of big old team and it's just like you're all having fun as once. Yeah, playing as a whole, like just your brother's family is that example. Yeah. And you've been playing at a high level for three years, but how long have you actually been playing basketball? A lot longer than that. Probably when I was like. I would say eight, nine. Okay. So you say eight or nine years old. Most people start playing basketball like four or five. So like why so much later? Because I played baseball, so I was a baseball guy. Okay. You're a baseball. Do you still play baseball? Yeah, I still play baseball. Okay. And so that's just, I had a lot of work on that. I got you. So which one's your favorites? It basketball? Is it baseball? So it a little in the middle. Okay. A little towards baseball, but I gotcha both sides. So what is it about baseball that. You draws you more towards that over basketball because baseball, it's like more of a you game. It's yeah. Yeah. You have to work on these little things. Yeah. Pitching don't matter. Pitching, hitting, fielding, whatever you want and you just gotta work on it. So what position are you play in baseball? Pitching and off field. All what? Like whole outfield or just are you the center fielder? Center and left. I figured you'd be the center field. You give me off Hey, I'm going run over right field and take your ball if I have to or something. Where do you take the most pride at? Do you take it in hitting, do you take it in your defense on, in baseball? What is it? Definitely my hitting because hitting, if you got a guy on first or second or whatever, guys on, you just gotta hit him in. Don't matter where the ball goes. So what kind of what amm I trying to say, what kind of hitter are you? Are you like, Hey, I'll get in, put it in contact, but in the field or you power hitter? I'll be the role anyone wants to be. If I gotta get a guy in, I'll hit a little single. If I gotta, okay. Get a double, just bring guys in. If I got guys on base, I'm just hitting any anyway on, so you're really like a versatile type of player. Where does that versatility come from? Just really being like coachable and flexible and it's okay.'cause more coaches, like flexible players, so it's if you want me to go bunt, I'll bunt. Okay, I'll put my body or do whatever I got on the line. Are you able, do you have the green light when you're on the basis or can you just steal whenever? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Is do you have one of those, like wrist guards too, or, oh, sliding bits? Yeah. Yeah, I got one of those. Okay. So it's give me like the, what's the whole thing behind the sliding glove? I get it to protect your hand, but is it like a so you're like,'cause last year, a couple years ago, I jammed my fingers. Okay. So I was slid and I jamming'em and I didn't want to keep jamming 'em, so I gotcha. So it does actually work. It's not just like for looks or anything like that? No. No. All. So in your early off in your career, what were some defining moments that kind of led to, your mindset? I just wanted to get, I was really lazy in the beginning. Okay. And then I just picked it up. I wanted to become better. I wanted to do it for not just me and my family and anyone who was around me. Yeah. I just wanted to be better and work harder. So you said you were lazy. What kind of, what was that shift? What was the moment where you were like, I really want to do something with this. I really wanna be more, I would say that shift for me. It definitely shifted when I was like 11 years old, okay. I just wanted to become better and be a better person just in general throughout sports. Okay. Not just me playing good and sports. Coming outside of sports and me in a will. How do you feel like sports translates into shaping you into a better person or shapes transformation long term? I'd say like for basketball, it's a team. Oh. So if you go out to a job, you gotta work with different coworkers and it is or just meet different people at school, college. It don't matter what it is, you just gotta be flexible. New teammates is just like a new coworker or something. Is there a moment like in your career that stood out to you the most where, you're meeting all these new people, were you ever a shy person? In the beginning, yeah. Okay. I kept a lot of things in myself. So when did you like break out of the, the shy cocoon and then, blossom and to the ability to like talk to other people and put yourself out there? So I would say I just wanted to be like more open as I would say. Okay. So just like you just talk to this person, get to know how they are and like, yeah, their personality, it just correlates from there. How do you feel like connections and connecting with people really translates to chemistry? Both not only off the court or off the field, but like on the court as well? Because connections, that's the most, I think that's the most important thing. If you're not really, if you're in your team, you are not team eye to eye, then obviously you, they're not gonna pass to him or they're gonna make turnover and stuff like that. So if as a whole team as a whole that you're like working together, then it's like more looks like pick and roll. It'd be easier. You can communicate and already know what's happening. Yeah. Do you feel like there's just one person that is the gel of the team, or do you feel like everybody has their own way of being the JE of the team? I'd definitely say everyone does have a different way of being the team, but I say our Mikey t, he was a big number. I would say six. I think so. Okay. And he just, I think he, him himself just correlates and starts getting us in that motion, I would say. I gotcha. For our team. So He's like your glue. Yeah. Almost in a way. Even though everybody had, I gotcha. So starting off have you always been, like that star player or did you start off slow? I definitely started off slow. Okay. And I think that's when I picked up my game from both sports really. Because I wanted to be that top guy or that guy that coach wants to go to, put him in for free throws or make a play, anything like that. So that's, I just wanted to be really that guy for that coach or the team.'cause you notice it when you play, like you're out there on the court specifically, it is just without you, you don't win that, that second game. You come out there, you get that steel early in the second half and you dunk it, but you remember the steel. And so we talk about it in your interview. So why did you remember the steel specifically? Like I said, I feel like that steel took the game from there. Yeah. Everyone saw you play hard. Hard work on defense correlates to hard work on offense. So if you do great defense, you're gonna do great things on offense no matter what. Yeah. And so like the game of basketball, I feel like it's really shifted to a offensive, heavy culture. What do you think we, we could do to shift it back to, the focus being on defense. Defense is because that's the most important. Yeah. That's like your driver as I would say. Yeah. Because if you get I call it kills. Yeah. Couple stops, 3, 4, 5 stops, and then you obviously you gonna, that's gonna correlate. You're gonna score more and more. Yeah. And you're up 15, 20 already. It's almost like the game wouldn't be the same without defense. I feel like you can score two points or one team that have two points. You have zero points. But at the end of the day, the team that won was a team that played better defense. Yeah. It just happened to be that they scored more points. You know what I mean? So how do you feel like your upbringing and your environment influenced the way you approach competition? I would say how I approach competition is I don't take nobody lightly. I don't matter if you're, a five star, four star, don't matter. Yeah. I just take everyone as the same. Same competition. You gotta work. They're working. So these so these four star, five star, who do you feel what, is there a player that stands out to you the most where, they're ranked or whatever, and you essentially, you stopped them. You just put a brick wall on their face. Is there any moment that stands out to you? Not off my top of the head really. Okay. Is there like a player that. Ever gave you trouble and you had to, you ended up shutting him down, or maybe he scored on you a couple times. You're like, all right, no, no more. Yeah, def there's definitely moments of that. Don't matter if they're a high level athlete like that. Yeah. Or if they score on you, just kinda like you understand their game. More of the left hand driver or right hand mini pull up, stuff like that. You just gotta find the key points of what that game is mostly. So with a U, is there a lot of preparation that goes into these games, like scouting or is it more I'm gonna show up and whatever competition's in front of me, just. I feel like it's in the middle of both.'cause there's different, I would say, a u teams that take more pride in the scouting, watching videos. Yeah. Or even just sitting on the sideline and watching the team, they're gonna play next. And then the other side is, they also, some kids, some teams just show up and just, get it done, get that work done, or whatever they gotta do. Yeah. But then also, so like with a u, you have circuit teams and then you have non circuit teams. Do you feel like there's a difference between the circuit teams versus the non circuit teams? Or do you think it's more so just exposure? I think it's more, I think it's both okay if, see everyone wants to be exposed to like college coaches or anything really, but I feel like that kind of either those teams, like they do more work or show more ath athleticism and stuff like that. Yeah. So what are some challenges you feel like athletes commonly face in the early stages of their careers? I would say the mental game. Okay. So if some kids are missing, like easy layups free throws. Yeah. Like I feel like kids nowadays get in their heads so quickly I gotta make those easy ones, I gotta make those. And that just like downhills down spirals for them. So when did you start to recognize your mindset, and start to take control of your mental game? It was a couple years ago that, 'cause I used to get down myself, just like that. If I miss a layup, I would get really angry at myself. And then, yeah, now that I realize once if I got angry, then that kind of correlate to my defense. I didn't play help side or I didn't get those steals and stuff like that. So then I just took pride in my mental game and like really just wanted to if I missed a layup, I'd missed it, the ball again. Go play defense, get a steel, make another one. What strategies do, did you use in order to conquer your mindset in a way? I did a lot like. For me it was deep breaths. Okay. Forgetting about it, taking that quick time is just forgetting about like the missed layup, the three free throws, whatever it is that I did wrong, correlate on it and it's after that, just forget about it and just go play defense or go score again. Like I can. Yeah. But then in, in baseball, you're in center field, I'm sure it's not very often you miss a pop fly. Yeah. But in moments like that where the spotlight, it's rare'cause it's, it could be at the center field, it could be at the shorts out the next play. How do you. Not, how do you not let that translate to your at bats? Just forget about it. It's one play. One play. Doesn't like define my whole game. I could go, oh, I could be three for three. Yeah. And just with one error. But I'm still, when I'm at my bats, yeah. I'm doing it for the team for sure. So how do personal experiences outside of sports shape the way an athlete competes? I think it's some part of it comes from what they had in their past or where they came from. That plays a big role on it. Yeah. And I think that just like grows that player or brings that personality to like the game of basketball. So for you personally, what experiences outside of sports shaped the way that you compete? Definitely just, I do it for my family. Okay. It's, I do it for me, but my family, they are, they got me to practice, they got me my shoes to wear the bat ball, I dribble. Yeah. Everything. So I just do it for my family. Hard work for my family. What is it about family that you feel like just drives. Not maybe you, but like just an athlete in general. So I feel like family is just, it drives, it's more, 'cause it's like they're always there for you. So like that just makes and then you also grow with your family and then they show, like their personality is shifted onto you and it's just family's all around. So who, do you have a closer relationship with? Your mom or your dad? Definitely my mom. Okay. I'm always with my mom. What is what, so what is it about your relationship with your mom that kind of stands out over the relationship with your dad? My mom, she's just, she's always there. She's if I'm down, she's there for me. Yeah. If I'm happy, mad, don't matter. She's always there. She's always on my side. Yeah. So like your relationship with your dad. I know dad's normally like the Rock. He's Hey, you gotta do this, that. Is he like a critical piece in, shaping you as a player you are today or, yeah, definitely because he'll tell me if I played good, he's gonna be honest. If I play bad, he's just gonna tell me I played bad. I gotta do better. So I think that's also the good part of my dad is 'cause he's honest. Yeah. Because now you get some parents that are just like, you played good, but like overall, you didn't, yeah. So hearing it straight from your parents gives you more of that flaming ear. The next game or something like that. Yeah. It, I know that sometimes parents can be a little critical, but how do you block out the criticism, but then focus on just growing from whatever piece of information they're giving you? It's just I hold it to me, if they say, go do this, try this at bats or basketball, or, yeah, school, it doesn't matter. I try to remember that and then if I, if it works. If it doesn't, so it's just the information you give 'em. I just bring it with me, so what's the best piece of criticism or just information that you've received that you were able to then translate that into your game? It's just like my mom. My mom always says mindset. Fix your mindset. Fix your face. Doesn't matter. Bad call. Bad call. Yeah. Get the next one. So I think that's also brought me up in my basketball career or baseball career is just forgetting about it. Play the next basket, play the next at bat. Play the next. Doesn't matter what it is, just forget about it and have fun. Yeah. And with baseball, I know that, bad ums are everywhere. It's unavoidable. But how do you not focus on, let's say an makes a really bad call, it's way outside in the box. How do you not let that get to you? Or how do you not, be like, start cussing out the umpire? What is it? It's just, I adjust to 'em okay. If it's more outside, then I kind of scoot in on the plate to get it. Okay. So I can get those outside balls or, it depends, it is a struggle when that happens.'cause you know the strike zone or you know it's not there. But yeah, it's just like that mindset. Forget about it, you call it. They're calling both ways. So it's like at the end of the day, they're playing in it. They have that same up, we have that same up. So that's the end of the day. It's just playing the ball. What role does self-talk and internal dialogue play in performance? Self-talk is, it does play a big role. I think so, yeah. Because it's, you can talk to yourself and reflect on like the things you did in the field. Yeah. On the court. So I just, I do think that plays a big role for it. How much do you typically talk to yourself? So let's just say you're like in that game out there going into the second half. What were you telling yourself? Walk me through what led to the, that translation into the taking back the lead. I would say it's like the pressure that they give me on defense. And watching, like this guy likes left hand, so I talk to myself, go through that. Okay. It's like he's mostly go screen, cross back to the right, try to get a floater, something. So like I really reflect on that. If I'm on the bench, that's when I talk to myself more and realize what this guy's doing and what's his not as his strong suit so that I can get like those steals, those rebounds. So it's about being aware. What, why do you feel like awareness not only in sports, but also in life is so important? Awareness is it's so important because it's like you gotta be aware of things that's going around you. It can't be like, you can't be on a tunnel, I would say like just all this guy defenders in front of me, stuff like that. It's gotta be, you gotta aware of everybody. This guy likes to Serena on the help side or he cuts through. Yeah. So it's just awareness until for life. You just gotta be, open to everything. See everything. Yeah.' cause it's life's unpredictable. And so habits, is there a habit that you became aware of and you were able to, maybe it was holding you back in a way and you were able to shift it and then create a new one? The habits that I've recently started doing is I keep myself at a kind of medium tone. Really? Because if I don't wanna get too low on myself or down on myself. Okay. And I don't want to bring too much energy where I sleep. Start taking bad layups, bad three pointer shots in and like then I'm being a negative for my team. Oh, so you kinda have a balance. Yeah, I try to balance it as far as I can. So some people call that a flow. So what would describe your flow? For me, it's like I'm like in the medium. Okay. If it's like there's good plays, yeah. I'll clap for my teammates scream and all that. Yeah. And if there's bad plays, I don't get down on my teammates or myself. I just tell 'em, next play, forget about it. You get a next open shot. Something like that. And so the defense's job is always to speed you up. How do you stay composed and not let their pressure get to you? I would say communication. Oh, so if my guy's gonna get screened or my point guard's gonna get screened, I gotta go tell 'em to scene screen. Yeah. So I feel like communication in basketball is the biggest fart. Not that's helps your defense too, because if you know that screen's coming, you're gonna back sag off or tighten up on the guy. Yeah. And switch. And it's just, communication is the biggest part of basketball, I think. So you talk about communication. How do you feel like sports teaches you communication? That translates into your daily life, maybe relationships, friendships, anything like that. It goes to the daily life is If you got questions, just you go communicate with, your work, your boss, your teacher, anything like that. Yeah. And it's just like you can talk about, your feelings, what you're feeling and all that. And it's it's better off to just not hide it and just go out and tell that person or, okay. Anything you questions about. So are you like a problem solver? Yeah, I try to be. Okay. So when you get a problem, do you take, do you push it off or do you like to get it done right then and there? I try to, as close as I can, I try to get it done as quick as I can. What is it about like solving problems, right? As soon as they happen that like it, like I have to do it. So 'cause if I don't do it, it bugs me really. Okay. So I like to get it done, make sure like I have it right or I'm doing it right. So it's then if it, if I'm dribbling. Work on my left hand and I got, that's a problem, my left hand. Okay. So then I fix that and then I'm unstoppable from there. Now you're dominantly right-handed, right? Yes. So are, do you feel like you can tell a difference between your right hand and your left hand? For sure. There? No. So there is a visible difference? Yeah. Okay. So when did you, so do you spend more time working on your left or do you spend more time on your right? It's, I do mostly left. If I'm just, if I'm in the gym dribble and I start off on my left, back forth, cross, anything like that on my left, then I move back to my right. To keep that quick ball handling so I can move, adjust, agility and all that. How much time do you typically spend, let's just say in a day between your two sports, you got baseball, right now you're in baseball season too between baseball and basketball, I go to the, there's a facility I go to, it's a baseball facility and then the back of the basketball. Okay. So I'll go hit off the tee, do this, throw all that, and I'll go back to my car, drop my baseball stuff, grab the ball and get some more work. Yeah. So it's like an equal amount. So it's so you're probably there, what, three and a half, four hours? Maybe three, four or five hours. Yeah. That, that's good. That's what it takes though. Yeah. So people that are athletes, young athletes that are looking to play in a next level, maybe it's high school, maybe it's college. What advice would you give to them as far as work ethic and effort put in? It's if you're on the court, do the dirty work. No one wants to take charges or dive. Yeah. If. That shows the coaches, your coach, anybody. If you're diving on the floor, you're putting your body on the line that's showing that you care for your team and you're fighting for your team to get those loose ball or yeah, sacrifice your body for that charge. Is there a moment where you know you're doing the dirty work that stands out to you most? Is like there a memory that you have that. Definitely charges. I think those are most memorable because those really kill the offense, yeah. Drive. Absolutely. So you get a charge that's your bolt and a file. So like you just did two things right there. Yeah. You stop the guy and you gotta file if he's the best player or worst player, doesn't matter. You feel you. The drive. What do you feel like is the best charge you've ever taken? Best charge was close. It was a close game. Okay. It was, I think it was a couple minutes and we were down two. Yeah. Took the charge and then the next after that, they got, that guy was filed out, so he had four. So we had a guy and then after that we knocked down a three. We won the game after that. Hey that's good that's translation right there. And then at the end of the game too, I think you gotta steal, right? Or it's one of your teammates got a steal and you're able to get a buzzer beater as well. So like it's obvious, like those small moments, like the steal the charges, the force turnovers. I feel like that's a lot more important than the offense at the end of the day. That's what I think it translates so well. So what are some of the biggest mindset shifts that lead to long-term success in sports? The mindset shifts. I would say it's, you gotta play with quick awareness. Okay. You just gotta, like I said, forget about what happened and shift to like defense helping your team out.'cause if you drop down, then like your whole teams could drop down 'cause they see you're down and then they're gonna start not helping or doing anything like that. But what is it about shoot, I lost my train of thought. Move on. How do external pressures like expectations from coaches, fans, even the media, how do you feel like they affect an athlete's game? It, those do play a big role.'cause if you got say a college coach, come and watch you. Yeah. You wanna ab play that your perform, you wanna play your top game. And I feel a lot of people take a lot of players focus on that. And I say if you, when you cross that basketball line, when you cross that line, you just gotta forget about everything. Block out all the noise. Yeah. Don't worry about who's coming to your game, who's not coming in. You just gotta play your game no matter who's there watching you, because you never know. So to get you prepared for a game, I know people, most players, they have a ritual or a superstition. Walk me through your pre-game routine. I get a good meal in kind of like toast, bananas, anything like that. Okay. Gimme like, so I don't catch cramps in the game or anything. It's just then I just, get in the car and then just listen to slow music. Okay. The game's already fast enough. Yeah. And if you slow it down, then you see like the awareness, you see it way better Yeah. Than keep listening to fast, like fast paced stuff. So what's your go-to pre-game playlist or song? I don't know. Anything really slow to be honest. Okay. Like I'd be listening to a lot of Drake's stuff. Okay. That's a good one. Because he's slow and it's just yeah, that's what I like, is I like making it slow. Or I've heard athletes even mention csa. I don't know. That's one too. Yeah, people talk about that, but so what is it about the music that kind of, that's just so calm or puts you in a flow state almost. It's 'cause nerves are also a big part of the game, Uhhuh. So it's like hearing that slow like rhythm or the tone or the voice doesn't matter what it is. Then it gives you that slow tone or it's yeah, you're in the media, you're just not too nervous, not too hyped. It's just in the, you're in the middle. So what do you feel, what do you feel like the nerves come from? Is, do you think it comes from. Performance or just external pressures? I think pressure. Okay. Because, I used to put a lot of pressure on myself. If I made a mistake, then that's on me. I made the mistake. And that's where the mindset comes in. And if you just release that pressure and play your game, have fun no matter what.'cause you pick the sport to play it 'cause he loved it. Yeah. And so when, once you step on the court. Do all the nerves subside or are they there the whole time? No they're gone. They're gone. Yeah. Everything's, everything about the nerves. Everything is just gone. When I play, to be honest, I don't hear nobody. Okay. Like the fans I can't even hear my mom or my dad screaming at me. Okay.'cause everything's just quiet for me. It's been a neutral. So once you, do you have any pre-game, like once you're on the court, do you have any rituals or superstitions? No, not really. What about on the baseball field? I know there's a lot of superstitions there. Baseball, there's a couple. Okay. I make sure, like what I, I re tie my laces twice. Really? Yeah. For some reason I do that, but, and it just gets me that's like how I start my day or how I start the game. So when you say, so if they're tied, you'll untie them and then tie them. That's your retie? Yeah. Okay. Do you have a, I don't know, like a not touch the lines? I know that's a big thing. Are you one of those people? Yeah, I don't like to touch the line 'cause, okay. Just bad. The touching line is bad luck. That's what they say. Yeah, that's what they say. I get that. What about are you a believer in like religion or do you feel like that's been a big role or a big factor in your life as well? Definitely. I definitely believe that everything that you do is like in, in God's will, for example. Okay, so he, he wakes you up every day. He puts the, you surround you with the family and all that. And I just, it's like God's path in away if it's like you just follow that path and like from there on you'll be good. So long term, I know you're what, a senior or junior? Junior. So you start, you're gonna be graduating next year. Yeah. So where do you feel like you've shifted from going into your junior year to now at this point, leading into your senior year? Being more mature. Okay. That definitely helped me.'cause before I was kinda like. It's whatever. It's just do this, don't do that. Doesn't matter. So I matured more of like in it done, just don't matter how hard it is, how easy it's just get done and it's then that's out the way. So why do you feel like people push off doing the work that most people know is necessary so that they can get results and they can grow? Because I feel like it's,'cause it takes time. Oh. And I feel like some people don't like how hard you have to work or the hours and days and weeks you gotta put in. So like I, I make sure I get my daily hours in or wake up my workout in, stuff like that.'cause if I work out, then that's gonna make me stronger. Yeah. To take the contact or swing harder and it's just definitely helps you. Do you feel like there's more time or do you think it's more comf comfort? I think it's a both. Okay. Because if you take the time, then obviously you are gonna get comfortable. Yeah. So if you work out four or five hours a day working on your game, then that's gonna correlate to the on the court. Yeah. Then it's like you're comfortable with that. You can absorb the contact or you can shoot that shot with a hand in your face. It's just after that, it's just like practice for me. Do you, where do you feel like you get the most growth from being comfortable or being uncomfortable? Uncomfortable. Definitely. Okay. Because I feel like if you're comfortable then it's like there's no added pressure or like I would say yeah, because if you're comfortable then it's just really, not really, you're not working hard. You're not, yeah. Getting better.'cause you just going through like the motion and all this left hand lay up, left right hand, it's just like motions. If someone's up in your face like that, then that's pressure. It makes you work on retreat steps and stuff like that. And yeah, passes, spin moves, euros, all that. And I wouldn't even say it's so much pressure, more so like stress or strain. It's like an unknown territory. Kinda I'm sure you lift a little bit. So like the first time you stepped in the weight room. Didn't it hurt? Oh, it hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt, right? And then you go back the next day and you know you're still in pain, but you lift again. You lift again, and it doesn't get easier. You just get more used to it. It just becomes a habit. It becomes. So what are some key habits or strategies that athletes used to build confidence and also build resilience? I would say to build confidence. It's have also having confidence in yourself. If you don't have confidence in yourself, then you know you're not gonna feel it to play your best ability. So if you gain that confidence with, doesn't matter, it could be off the court. On the court. Yeah. You have that confidence that makes you like a better person. And it just grows you as like a human. Where, so where did you feel like you started to gain confidence in your game and who you and also in who you are as a player? I gained my confidence later on and I wish, I do wish I gained my confidence earlier. It's just confidence is a big motivator, I think. Yeah. So if you got confidence with anything you don't matter. Sports, school. Yeah. Anything. If you have that drive and that confidence, it's just like things are easier for you. How do you feel like shoot, how do you stop? Letting regret or guilt from creeping into your game? It's how do I stop the guilt? It is, it's it's just, I don't focus on it. Okay. It's like it happens. It happened, forget about it. Like you could be, it doesn't matter what it is. It's just the guilt comes, recognize it and yeah, forget about it and focus onto something else. Is it about Recognizing it, let it go, or is it more so just owning that it's just who you are? Like this? Is this who you were in that moment? It could be. It could be that. Okay. It could regret comes in many different ways. It, yeah. Come any time. And it's definitely in that moment something happened. Yeah. And it's just you gotta focus yourself back in and realize you can reflect from it too. Yeah. So it could be a positive at the same time that you realize that, that you could fix it. Yeah. Stuff like that. So you course me as somebody who reflects a lot, how much time do you feel like you spend reflecting? I reflect a lot. It doesn't matter what it is. Basketball school, I just reflect on it. If I did something bad, it's why did I do something bad? Not, oh, I did it bad'cause I didn't sleep right. Or something like that. Yeah. It's like I could, oh, I could have passed it out to this guy. He was wide open the corner said that spin move and forcing a bad shot. So how do you feel like an athlete's belief system shapes their ability to perform at the highest level? Believe is a big thing.' cause if you believe in you can do anything. Because if you don't believe you can take guys guarding in front of you, you don't believe you can score in them, then you just shy off, pass the ball off. And don't get those like easy layups or easy threes as you want. So you definitely gotta just focus on that as well. Is there a moment that you remember where you didn't believe in yourself and what is what in you shifted? To where you were like, I can do this. It was earlier in my career. I didn't really believe in myself. I didn't really understand why I was still playing that sport or something like that. Yeah. And what shifted is just like my family, she, my mom is always there and she believes in me. My dad believes in me, my grandma, my grandpa, they all believe in me and believe that I can go be something or do something for 'em. Yeah. And that's what I want to do. I wanna improve their way of life and yeah, bring'em to stuff that they want and stuff like that. And with. Having the spotlight on you. There's people that they pretend like they're there for you and then they'll talk talk behind your back, or they'll, they're just constantly you can't do that. You can't do that. What is it about just succeeding? That doesn't necessarily be like, ha, like I did this, but more so just gives you that. Satisfaction. It's definitely' cause if you, I like to go, I score on that guy, for example, he's talking trash or something like that. So I can't shoot, can't do that. And it gives me that like self-confidence more. Because it's I know I can do that. Yeah. I know I can do this. So it's it just I grow from there because it's just one of those things where why do you feel like people say negative things to get you in your head? Okay. Because if, 'cause pretty much like mental, if I'm talking trash to you saying you can't do this, you can't do that, you're gonna go try it. Yeah. And if you really can't do that, then you're just gonna, it's like you're a negative factor for your team. Yeah. And so if someone gets in your head, it's pretty much they could be in your head for that, that time or that whole game. And it's like you don't play the best ability as you know you can. Do you think it's them trying to get in your head or do you think it's their own limitations? I think it's both. Okay. Because if, like I said, if you get someone's head, that could be, they could just be. Breaking down the rest of the game. It could be the best player, the worst player. You just, if I'm in someone's head, I took that guy out of the equation. Yeah. I took him out of the game pretty much. And then I feel like that could just be someone, and if someone's trash talking, that could be how their game is. Yeah. Like how that could be more confidence for them, stuff like that. Now you said as soon as you step on that court, you don't really hear anything. You hear your teammates a little bit. So how is it that you don't let other people trash talk you and it get into your head? Because when I'm watching that game. Somebody could have been like, your mom is this. And I don't think it would've ever affected you. Definitely not.'cause it's just the game's so high, intense and fast. Yeah. And making quick decisions. It's all about that. And if you slow the game down and just tune out the noise, I would say yeah. And tune out the trash talk. Sometimes if you know the parents, the refs call or whatever. Yeah. You tune all that out and you just focus on yourself and more opportunities to come.'cause you're not worried about that person. Oh, he said this about my mom, or he said this, I can't do this. You just work harder and you just forget about it. Yeah. So being an athlete, it's a busy life. How do you balance that with your, also your personal identity? It's I get this, I get the things that I need to do first. Okay. So if I gotta, if I gotta get this workout in, I gotta get it in. Oh. It's like I'm, I won't go to like for friends, that's the hangout. I got it. If I didn't work out for this many hours or something. Yeah. I gotta get that before I can even. Think about, hanging out with this or having go to a party or something like that. I gotta get my work done. Yeah. Before, because if I skip it, then that's gonna be a bad habit. Yeah. Oh, I'll put it to side, do it tomorrow, but I really don't do it tomorrow. Yeah. So it's just create good habits. So it's about, so like prioritizing yourself first? Yes. Okay. Definitely. And how do you show up as Elijah? Whether you're in sports, whether you're outside of sports, how do you not let your sport identity? Almost translate into your personal identity. You feel like you have the same identity? It's definitely okay because if I feel like you respect everybody. Yeah. And I respect everyone on the court. No matter, you're the best player, the worst player I respect. No matter what I'll play, I'll have a high hand. Even if you can't shoot. And it's and then it correlates to like school work, who doesn't matter, interacting with other people. I give you that same respect.'cause I want that same respect back. Okay. So it's like you give someone respect and they're gonna see that you respect them, that you care about 'em, then they'll care about 'em. Respect you. So outside of your sport, what impact do you have beyond it and how can you use your platform effectively? I would say that's a good question. I would say how I can use it effectively is, Hey, you caught me on that one. That's a good question, isn't it? It definitely is. My platform is. I wanna be the person I want to be. Okay. And I don't want to get dragged into like friends or anything like that. So like I'll do anything I want first kinda like what I said, work on myself.'cause if you work on yourself, then that builds confidence, beliefs, basketball, like it just works. So you build great platform for yourself. Then that just correlates to sports life, stuff like that. Like for you, I'm not sure if you found your purpose yet, or what you wanna do in life, but. What do you feel? How do you want to impact people and impact the world? In a sense, I would say I want to impact people is like treat everyone with kindness Really? Okay. Because like you could, you don't know what that person went through. Yeah. You don't know what that person's going through at the moment that you're talking to 'em. So you treat people without that kindness. Yeah. Or your family with that kindness. And then it's just everything. Again, just rolls better, I would say. Yeah. And so it's just like bringing impact. I like bringing impacts to, yeah. Things. So there's a lot of people that are like anti kindness. Why do you feel like so many people are like, kindness isn't good or kindness is bad? Because I feel like there's a lot of anti kindness is because it's taking time outta their day. I would say a big thing is like maybe holding the door for somebody. Yeah. Or holding the elevator. Yeah. It's like you don't really do that.'cause it's oh, that's too much work. Or takes too much time outta my day and I gotta focus on it's just me. Yeah. And how do you find that balance between giving but also taking time for yourself and giving to yourself as well? Both of those are really important because you gotta also give time to yourself to make yourself a better person. Yeah. And if, when you give that time to yourself, you give that time to other people too. Your family, your friends, no matter who it is, you interact with. So it's about filling your cups so you can then, give from an overflow so you're able to definitely, give more to other people. Definitely. I get that. So obviously I don't want you to be done playing sports anytime soon. I'd love to see you go play college, play professional sports, baseball, basketball, whatever it is. But how do you, how does an athlete prepare for life after sports and what challenges come with that shift? There's a lot of challenges that come from that shift. It's more work, I would say. More work workload. If you go to college. Hours. You gotta put enough study in. Yeah. And then you gotta make sure you gotta get to the gym earlier or later. Yeah. So you still gotta get that college athlete, you gotta get that workout in. Yeah. So that could be waking up earlier, getting it done at night or something like that. And then getting your schoolwork done too, because it's gotta reflect with both. So it's about, understanding you might gain more responsibility, but that doesn't take away from who you are. Like what also you need to do definitely in your life. So for you, I would just kinda explain. So success for me looks like showing up every single day, regardless of the outside noise, regardless of what's going on in my external life, showing up. That's success for me. What does long-term success look like for you? I would say definitely the same as you showing up. Okay. It doesn't, I show up for, family, friends, basketball, and my team. Yeah. I just show up. Does it? I won't, like if I'm having a bad day, I'll drop that bad day's time or reflect it on later. Okay. And come be for that person or my family or that team. Because a lot of people, they define success as, I want an MVP, I wanna state championship. How do you not let those accolades, those championships define you and you really create your own definition of success? I would say creating your own definition of success is like not 'cause I could care less if I made that buzzer, beater. Yeah. I could care less if. I had that made the MVP? Yeah. Or anything like that? It's me about if we did it as a team. Okay. Because if I could go score 25 points and that doesn't, I really, I could care less about points. Yeah. If I'm on the floor grinding, getting rebounds assist. Yeah. Overall that leads to points. That leads to leads. Stuff like that. So it's so you're more, so success for you looks like just going out there being you and all the accolades, the points, they just, they top lawn extra. Exactly. Pretty much. It's. It's like cake's really good. Just being cake. But then you throw some icing on. It's like, all right, but it, yeah. So how do athletes define their legacy, and what do you personally wanna be remembered for? I wanna be remembered as a, a kind person. Person that gets it done is like there for you.'cause I'll always be there for my family no matter where, how far I am, where I am in college, no matter what, I'm always gonna be there for my family. My family was there for me. I'm just like, it's like a return. Yeah, because you gotta return to anything that they did. Good for you. You gotta do good for them too. Yeah, for sure. I'd say the biggest thing drives me is myself, but I'd love to do something for my family, hook them up, whatever I can. So for the next generation of athletes striving for greatness, what advice would you give to them? Keep working. Okay. Make sure you have that time to work for yourself. Get stronger, get better at your, any sport, football, basketball, whatever sport you play. Yeah. Just to get better because. You're getting better at this, then you're getting better at other things too. Yeah, because it hard work. You're going out four or five days working out. Yeah. Then it's gonna lead into like habits, like getting stuff done, like you gotta get this homework done, or Yeah, you gotta turn in this assignment before the due date. Stuff like that. Yeah. So before we sign off, do you have anything you wanna say to the kingdom? No, I just, no, it was nice. Nice meeting on the podcast. I'm glad to have you. So that's the conclusion of episode 12 of Royal Vision Podcast. It's been Elijah Ga, coach Matthew. Peace out. Love you guys. Appreciate you.