COASTAL OBSERVER

Ayami Prior is taking her basketball game to Europe this summer.

“I’m very excited,” the Waccamaw High School freshman said. 

Prior was selected to participate in the United World Games in Germany and Austria in June after a coach saw her playing with her AAU team in Florida last summer.

The annual games feature more than 10,000 athletes from 50 counties competing in nearly a dozen sports.

Prior expects the games to be a little different than what she’s used to.

“We’re going to be going against different countries so the playing style might be different. It might be something we’ve never gone against before,” she said. “It gives me exposure and I’ll learn how to go against different things I’ve never gone against.”

When they’re not playing basketball during the 10-day trip, Prior and her teammates will be touring historic sites in the two countries.

One of the things Prior is most looking forward to is trying new types of food.

“It’s different countries so it’s probably different food than we eat here,” she said.

Before Prior’s team heads to Europe the girls will spend a week in New York practicing and getting to know each other.

“You’ve got to talk to each other in the games so you know what’s happening and then you start bonding over the course of time,” Prior said.

Prior started playing basketball when she was 5. She finds the sport fun, but it also involves a lot of hard work. 

“You can’t just go out and do it unless you’re talented,” she said. “But even if you’re talented you still have to work. Work can still beat talent if you work hard.”

Prior joined Waccamaw’s varsity team last year as an eighth-grader. This season she led the Warriors in scoring with 253 points.

The Warriors have made the playoffs five years in a row but never made it past the second round.

“We know what we’ve got to do. We’ve been talking about it and practicing,” Prior said. “We’ve just got to push a little more to get to the third round.”

Prior wants to share what she learns in Europe with her Waccamaw teammates the next time they practice together.

Last summer was the first time Prior played on an AAU team.

“I wanted to do more basketball so I could get more practice in and get better,” Prior said. “I’ve heard AAU makes you a lot better.”

The competition was tough, Prior added, but she had fun.

“I learned a lot of new stuff to add to my game,” she said. “It was good for me.”

Prior is fundraising to cover some of the nearly $5,000 cost of the trip. To make a donation go to gogetfunding.com and search for Prior’s name.