"Passion Is What Brought Me Here"... The Story Of Mike Fraser
When someone is passionate about a particular practice of sport or study, dedication is one of the fundamental principles a person has to follow consistently. The countless amount of hours that an individual spends when entertaining their passion stimulates the idea of dedication. Whether its an athlete or a philosopher, time is simply a number for this particular group of people due to how committed they are. Millions of athletes across the world tend to share this incredible gift of dedication until they feel satisfied with there craft. The mental strength that these athletes possess is something remarkable due to how fixed they are about elevating their talent. However, in some cases, athletes practice and train their entire lives to master their skill set. Players such as Kobe Bryant and Giannis Antetokounmpo fall into this category quite easily, considering how attached both these players were towards the gym. Even though both these players will go down in history as one of the greatest players to ever play the game, what if I told you that you don’t have to make it into the NBA to be great. What if I told you that this past summer, a league called the CEBL hosted top athletes across Canada with the same mentality? The reality is some people are born with basketball skills, while others have to work towards it. Mike Fraser of the Hamilton Honey Badgers is no stranger to the gym as he has committed his entire life towards the gym.
On June 28, 1984, Mike Fraser was born in Ottawa, Ontario, with the ambition of being apart of the athletic field. As a kid, Fraser immediately started to participate in all kinds of athletics. Whether its playing touch football or exploring the wilderness, Fraser was all about any form of physical activity. His ambition and love for being athletic started at a very young age, which led him to a path of greatness. Unlike most kids his age, he knew what he wanted to do right away, which was to be apart of athletics, yet he struggled to find which one would suit him the best.
Even though Fraser played almost every sport out there known to humanity, his true passion was basketball. Everything about basketball is what hooked Fraser into loving this sport at a young age. His dedication towards the game of basketball was something remarkable considering how attached he was towards the game. There were times in his childhood where he would be begged to leave the gym as he made it his second home even til now. Also though Fraser was addicted to the gym, what led him to this belief system?
Throughout Fraser’s years in high school, he was a very competitive person to play against. Whether it was aggressively grabbing a rebound or playing man to man defence, Fraser was a passionate player on and off the court. His raw passion for the game was nothing close to his love at the gym, lifting weights and gaining muscle. To Fraser, being the toughest player on the court was more important than anything else considering his playstyle as a big man. However, the reason why Fraser valued the gym so hard was due to his ambition to get better. Without the gym, Fraser would feel empty inside due to the bond he made with it at a young age. When someone is passionate about something, they typically make an emotional connection before anything else. In my case, for example, I learned about the players and the culture about basketball before I ever looked at the actual game because I wanted to make that emotional connection. Similarly, Fraser wanted to find an emotional attachment towards the gym to form a bond that would be too thick to cut. Looking at Fraser now, it’s safe to say that his relationship with the gym is uncuttable.
Fraser’s love for the gym is something incredibly unique that not a lot of people have, and that’s persistence. The saying “hard work pays off” is the definition of Fraser’s basketball career and just his way of living. Fraser developed the Mamba mentality at a young age and carried that level of commitment to this very day. Even though the ultimate dream for a basketball player is to make it to the NBA, not all do, and they shouldn’t feel discouraged by it. Going back to the Mamba mentality and the great Kobe Byrant, Bryant himself said that,
“Just because a player is not in the NBA doesn’t mean he’s not good enough to be in the NBA. You have to respect everybody. ”
For a person like Kobe and especially Kobe to say something like that is truly remarkable. The reality is, basketball players who don’t make it in the NBA are typically frowned upon and pushed aside like a piece of garbage. However, what people usually forget is, a player like Mike Fraser and Lebron James share the same level of professionalism. Everyone knows about Lebron James and his hardships, yet no one ever gives the same recognition or respect to a player like Mike Fraser because he’s not in the “NBA.” Mike Fraser and other players in the world that didn’t make it to the NBA get pushed aside too much and in my opinion, it’s not fair. These players put just as much time and energy as guys like Lebron James and Steph Curry, yet none of them get recognized for what they do. Do you follow the game of basketball for the fame behind it, or do you follow it because you love EVERYTHING about it, and that includes the players that don’t make it to the NBA?
The best part about Mike Fraser’s story is how he embedded that quote in his mind before Kobe Bryant even opened his mouth about it. When interviewing Fraser on the phone, I noticed that he did not care about what anyone thinks about him and instead focuses on his passion for getting better every day. That’s a rare quality to have considering how our world is on a pedestal of attaining media attention. Instead of worrying about how many likes he gets on a post or how many followers he has on his Instagram, Fraser’s main obsession comes from portraying the right message to the world. You can have all the money and fame in the world; however, without passion, your life is empty. That’s the one lesson I learned about Fraser and his career, especially when you look at how he managed to continue to glue his passion for the game.
As mentioned earlier, Fraser didn’t just strive to play basketball and instead focused on becoming a personal trainer. Looking at his life, a common theme is placed, which is physical activity. Without athletics, Fraser would have been lost in what he wanted to do. However, when interviewing Fraser, I realized that one of the essential things in his life is to help others achieve their goals and dreams. Whether if it’s his inspirational posts on social media or his passion for assisting others in reaching their ideal physical shape, Mike Fraser is all about helping others conquer their dreams in the physical realm. Even though Fraser is 35 years old, he believes that age is simply a number and that everything is possible as long as you can breathe the air and walk on the Earth.
Overall, Mike Fraser’s story warmed my heart. Even though he is one of the veterans in not just the basketball world but also in the CEBL, he still finds a way to maintain the spark he had for athletics since he was a kid. When hearing and speaking to Fraser and his journey towards the game of basketball, it opened my eyes to how impactful passion can be. All a person needs to achieve their dream is to have the passion and to further it with consistency and hard work no matter what field you choose to be in. Passion is what builds success in a person as they not only feel fulfilled and satisfied with finding it, but they also feel accomplished when practicing it. That’s precisely what Mike Fraser has done in his life and has achieved purpose and happiness in his life, which a lot of people, unfortunately, have trouble finding. Some people take centuries to find what truly fulfills them, while others might take a year to figure out which in hindsight is not a lot of time. If people obsess so much about what others want them to do in their lives, they will never find purpose in their life. However, if a person finds his passion, everything else in life aligns smoothly, which is evident in Mike Fraser’s life. Not only has Fraser achieved his dream of becoming a professional athlete, but he has also accomplished in sharing his vision and passion to others by training and helping others reach their ideal physical goal. Mike Fraser has found something that most people wish they could have, and that’s, accomplishing comfortability and purpose in his life through the incredible tool of passion.
