Terrence Dill Returns To CedarBridge To Donate

Terence Dill, small forward, shooting guard and power forward, has been a member of the American Basketball Association for the past five years, and was recently acquired by the Baytown Bandits. Now, Mr. Dill is paying his respects to CedarBridge Academy, where attended school, in order to give back.

A spokesperson said, “His first mission, as he moved from the Buffalo Warriors to Semi-Professional Basketball team, the Baytown Bandits, was to return to and donate his basketball jersey to the school.

“Visiting CedarBridge Academy right before he left Bermuda,  he stood in the library and whispered quiet words to his jersey, a jersey he wore for three years with the Warriors, followed by a brief stint with the Houston Assaults, heading toward his first season with the Baytown Bandits.”

“The Bandits were impressed by game I played against them the week before while playing for the Houston Assaults,” he said.

“Being an impressive player and being selected in his chosen career, is not new to Terence. In fact, in 2010, he opted to participate in a celebrity basketball game that lead to his  playing small forward as a the professional basketball for the American Basketball Association.”

“Bermuda Gas and Sky basketball held a celebrity game then. They wanted to give someone the opportunity to go abroad and further their career,” he explained.

Mr. Dill recognized the opportunity, saying, “I knew that this was my one and only shot at doing some historic for my country and myself.

“[After being selected] I still had to try-out for the team in Buffalo. The competition was fierce. I saw people six inches shorter than I, doing what I do. I knew I would have to dig deep and showcase what it was that got me to Buffalo.”

“Terence was selected to play for the Buffalo Warriors, a team he was with for three years. He was told, that his determination to give it 100%, was the deciding factor in their choice of players. The selecting coach told him that anyone can score, but what happens when your team is down 20 with three minutes left?

“When Terence was a student at CedarBridge Academy, he came under the influence of Coach Ricky Watts. Watts, a former NFL Defensive player for the Chicago Bears, spent his time teaching his boys the heart of the game and never to give up. His method of coaching and his ability to encourage the players to believe in themselves, was more important than anything else.”

Coach Watts said, “They do not have to be the best, they just have to have the desire to win. This is what I teach. I teach them to want to win. I teach them how to win. I teach them to never give up on themselves.”

Mr. Dill said, “That man right there, [Mr. Watts] was the sole reason I ever thought I had a chance to make it out of Bermuda and do something with my life. He may have pushed my buttons and at the time I didn’t understand, but now I know he pushed the right ones. I have to say the one thing he taught me, CedarBridge taught me, was how to be resilient.

“No matter hard I may have been beat down, just get up. Standing up sometimes may be the best way to beat the situation.”

“Even though he was not an academic student, he felt his experiences at CedarBridge Academy prepared him, describing Principal Kalmar Richards as someone who always supported students, no matter what. He explained that despite the trials and tribulations he endured as a student, he felt that Mrs. Richards was always in his corner.

“As a member of the ABA, Terence has spent a lot of time traveling and meeting fans from city to city in the USA. He said sometimes it becomes tiresome, but just to see be able to witness the different layers of American culture is a wonderful learning experience.

“Terence meets fans, visits schools, talks to children and spends time making children understand the sacrifices required to achieve their goals.”

“As a member of the Baytown Bandits, Terence explained that his major role is to help build this team for a couple. His biggest challenge was the recent game against the number one team in the ABA, the Shreveport Mavericks, the number one basketball team in the league.

“The ABA and the NBA at one time were one organization. They separated and the NBA became the forerunner for basketball. Often players playing in the ABA become NBA players.”

“After leaving CedarBridge Academy, Terence attended University of Texas A&M and the University Corpus Christi. His next goal is to bring down some of his teammates to play in Bermuda.”

“I was not an academic student and basketball provided me with opportunities,” Terence said. “The best advice I can give anyone is that for anything they want to do in their life, to never give up. I believe that if you do give up, you never truly tried.

“Give 100%. If you fail, go back again and give another 100%; keep going until something happens.”

“He said that people should know that what they want to do with their life may take time, but they should never give up. He explained that there was one time, he was dropped from a basketball team in Bermuda. The coach, gave the team a pass and provided them with an opportunity to open up about what they felt.”

“I was the co-captain, and the only person to speak up, so North cut me, due to creative differences. That was a failure, but I never gave up.

“Finally I’m at a place in my life where I can say I have done it. It was not an easy road, and to give up on my dreams would have meant giving up on a piece of myself.”

#BermudaBasketball #CedarBridgeAcademy

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