New England Basketball Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony
September 24, 2004

By Becky Dowling Adams

I started playing basketball in seventh grade. I joined the team because the coach said that I would be good at basketball – not because I was particularly skilled, but because as a 5’10” seventh grader, I stood about a foot taller than any of my friends.

Although I didn’t get any taller, I contribute much of my growth as a person to what I learned from playing basketball.

I learned about commitment, sacrifice, and perseverance. I learned that through it all, the one thing that I could always count on was my teammates.

My teammates have always meant more to me than any game or award. Whether it was my first team in Longview, WA; the girls from Andover; or my teams at Navy; we knew that we could trust in one another, both on and off the court. We knew that we had made the same commitments and sacrifices. We learned that through our perseverance, we could achieve anything. And we did.

At Andover, we lost three games in four years. Our team is being recognized tonight for our accomplishments on the court. But our greatest accomplishment wasn’t measured in wins or losses. Our greatest accomplishment was coming together as a team and as a family. For those who don’t know, Phillips Academy is a boarding school. Most of the girls are far from their families and rely on one another for almost everything. During my time in high school, my teammates were my family. And in basketball, I found a way that we could grow up together.

After my four years at Andover, I arrived at the United States Naval Academy. Let’s just say that Annapolis was a little different than Andover. I didn’t really know what the military was all about. I certainly didn’t want some 19-year old kid yelling in my face all day. And I wasn’t crazy about standing in formation, marching to lunch, or rarely getting to go on liberty. But I did want to play basketball. And Navy offered me that opportunity.

The Naval Academy prides itself on challenging every midshipman. They like to say that they develop midshipmen “morally, mentally, and physically.” There were countless times at Annapolis when I thought that I had made a huge mistake. But basketball kept me going.

As a Division I athlete, I learned to compete at an even higher level. I learned to set greater goals and demand more of myself. And I relied even more on my teammates. It wasn’t always easy, but, for four years, we grew together. We turned to one another for support and encouragement. And we excelled. We went from young girls struggling to survive at a military academy to young women ready to serve our country as naval officers.

After graduation, I began training as a Naval Aviator. Eventually, I finished flight school, learned to fly the F-18 and arrived at my first squadron, VFA-83 – The Rampagers. A first squadron is always a bit intimidating for a navy pilot. As the new guy, you enter an exclusive brotherhood that critically analyzes everything you do. But for me, there was a little more to it. Another female and I were the first women ever assigned to VFA-83. I didn’t want it to be a big deal. But to many, it was. I was entering one of the most exclusive old boys’ clubs in the world. I was a fighter pilot. With this group of guys, I was going be forward deployed over hostile nations. I was going to spend three years of my life with them. I may go to war with them. I had to trust them and they had to trust me.

Just as any good team would do, we started with practice. We went through our training cycle in preparation for deployment. We spent countless hours in the air, honing our skills and preparing for war. I’ve never wanted to go to war. In fact, I don’t think any of the guys from my squadron ever wanted to go to war. But war is the reality that we are confronted with as naval officers. And if we were going to be called upon, we were going to be ready.

As we prepared, I relied on the same commitment, sacrifice, and perseverance that I developed through basketball. But what I relied upon most were the other pilots in my squadron. They were my new teammates.

We eventually deployed aboard USS George Washington for six months in support of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Because of our teamwork, VFA-83 and the USS George Washington were able to do our jobs successfully while defending the freedom of this great country.

I am no longer in that squadron. I recently had the honor of graduating from TOPGUN. Unlike the movie, we didn’t spend our spare time playing volleyball. We actually played basketball. I am now an instructor at the Strike Fighter Weapons School Atlantic. But those guys in VFA-83 are still like brothers to me, just as all of my basketball teammates have become like sisters. It doesn’t matter how far away we are or how long it has been since we’ve seen each other. Your teammates truly do become your family.

So that’s what I have learned from basketball. I have learned that life, like basketball, is full of challenges; that it takes commitment, sacrifice, and perseverance to achieve goals; that we can find strength in one another; and that the most important aspect of the game is not how many points we score, whether we win or lose, or even whether we can make our foul shots or even whether we can land on the boat at night, first pass, for an okay 3 wire. For me, the most important part of basketball and flying, has always been my teammates – at Andover, at Annapolis, and in VFA-83.

Thank you for this honor.