Jesse's last basketball game

My son, Jesse, has been sick with a chest infection since last Monday and he had a rough week. He got to a point of being too sick to go to school and he ended up missing 3 days of school. Fortunately, he saw a doctor on Saturday, and we are giving him the right medicines that he needs for treatment.

And while I definitely want to encourage a child to rest and limit activities while being sick, it would seem that Jesse was not going to be able to do that this weekend.

Yesterday was the day the team pictures for his basketball team were being taken and today was their last game. It was not like we could reschedule these things and this was the only time those things were going to happen. And while Jesse was feeling pretty crappy, I knew he had to go to both games. If he didn’t go, he would miss out on both of those things. He might regret that later and also get really upset. My husband didn’t want Jesse to go to either games, but these were the last two – the first with team pictures – so I told him that Jesse had to go despite being sick. (And anyway, I wanted Jesse to learn that sometimes we have to do things even when we are sick. Heck, when I was sick for all of last week, I still got up early in the morning and got the kids to school! Life doesn’t stop just because we get sick!)

I explained to the coach that Jesse was sick so Jesse was allowed to sit out Saturday’s game. However, Jesse was feeling well enough to play today, so he got to play with his team for their last game. I am so glad that he got to play, too. It WAS the last game! His team didn’t win but they still had a good game. And Jesse played pretty well, despite being sick.

So he got to be in the team pictures and he also got to play for his team’s last game. This season has gone by so fast. Jesse did miss a lot of practices and games, unfortunately, because of sickness or because we were out of town, but he had a great time playing basketball. I am glad he has good memories of his first experience of playing basketball. He will cherish those memories for a long time. His teammates were awesome and he got along with everybody. And his coaches were awesome, too!

It’s gonna take me a while to get used to not having to schedule things around his practices and games, and even not taking him to practices or games anymore! But there’s always next season. He is looking forward to playing on a basketball team again. Meanwhile, he’ll be shooting hoops off-season when he gets the chance!

Here are the pictures I took from today’s game. Jesse is #40.

Basketball, at last!

Last year, I signed Jesse up for basketball through Kidsports. Unfortunately, because I didn’t have transportation, Jesse missed the first practice. I was worried about Jesse being cut from the team but I let the coach know ahead of time about the situation and he assured me that would not happen. Jesse was very upset that he missed the first practice but he looked forward to going to the next practice.

Unfortunately, the next practice did not happen too soon. We had some inclemental weather so practice was cancelled. Of course we were upset about this, but looked forward to going after the new year started.

Well, basketball practice in the new year got off to a rough start! We had more severe winter weather this month (though not as bad as in other areas) and basketball practice kept being cancelled.

When the snow fell last week – which interfered with children going to school – I decided not to drive unless I absolutely had to. There was snow and ice everywhere. Also, I am not used to driving a minivan in the winter (it’s only been a year since we got the van!), so I put off driving for a while there. Then the weather lessened in severity and kids got the okay to return to school.

And yesterday was the first day and the first time I drove the minivan in the winter. A lot of streets were cleared of snow, but there were still snowy and icy areas. There was also a lot of slush. I was super cautious when driving yesterday and also drove a little slower than normal. I also made sure there was ample room for stopping. It went well and today was much better because a lot more snow and ice melted away. The temp was actually higher than my age for once – I was happy and pleased to see that it was 45 degrees today! (It had been in the 30s and lower 40s for a while there.) And today we even had some sunshine and it was nice to see some GREEN again! Jesse and I spent time on the driveway today removing patches of snow to make it easier for us to walk on it. I was glad to get rid of it!

I had a good feeling that meant there would be basketball practice today. And guess what: There was! Jesse came home feeling bummed thinking that basketball practice would be cancelled and I smiled and told him that it wasn’t. He was very excited about finally being able to go to basketball practice today!

He had a great time at basketball practice, too. His coach is the same coach he had for the first time he played baseball. Well, he has this coach for the first time he is playing basketball, too! Awesome! (And the coach is a great coach!) So now Jesse is playing basketball. This is the third sport that he is playing! 

I enjoyed watching Jesse at basketball practice. I took some pics at first, of course. I also sent out a couple of tweets. But I soon realized that I needed to not only watch Jesse at practice but also my surroundings, because this happened:

Yep, you gotta watch out for flying basketballs at basketball practice. There was one time a basketball almost came flying down at Jesse but he ducked out of the way.

The first basketball practice was awesome and Jesse gets along with his teammates. We look forward to going again soon and Jesse is very happy to officially be playing basketball now.

Here are pics I took:

The last basketball game

Today was Jen's last basketball game. She was sad to see her stint playing basketball come to an end and I reminded her of the good times she had playing. She met new friends, there were great moments of laughter and hugs, and she learned new things about the game. She also grew just a little bit more in her athletic abilities. I am glad I had her take the basketball clinic last year, because it prepared her for the Real Thing this year.

Today's game was really something. Somehow, it just lasted longer than it really did. A couple of girls got hurt and I was touched to see Jen run out to check with her teammate after she was injured in the game.

The opponents were very aggressive. So much so that there was constant struggling for control of the ball. The coaches had to intervene when things got out of hand. I just had to chuckle with amusement at watching those girls play so aggressively. Pig tails and make-up just aren't the makings of these girls on THIS basketball court! They shed their girly images and took on the roles of tough, determined players giving their all to score one for the team! They weren't girls, they were GRRRLS!

Still, I was concerned about just how tough they played. I believe that contributed to why some girls got injured. It was heartbreaking to watch girls crying after they got hurt. I guess there is crying in basketball, after all. At one point, Jennifer fell and I started to feel distress when she didn't get up. The assistant coach picked her up and carried her to the bench. She hurt her knee (a nasty bruise showed up on there later) but was able to get back into the game later. I was even more distressed when one girl on the opposing team tore the ball away from Jennifer so hard, her arms went flying and she fell to the floor. I was concerned she was hurt after that, moreso after she kept clutching at her arm as she continued to play. I wanted the coach to pull her out in case her arms were hurt but she seemed to play all right so I let it go. When she came to the bench, I asked her about her arms and she said they did hurt a little but she was more angry at the girl for taking the ball away from her like that.

Aside from the toughness and aggressiveness, I was taken aback at the camaraderie that still existed among opposing teams. When a girl on the opposing team fell, a girl on Jen's team helped her up. And even though they went crazy trying to block each other from trying to catch the ball, they still smiled at each other and there was that look on their face which somehow reinforced the message that it was only a game and the main objective was to have fun.

There were cheers as baskets were made, high-fives and hugs. There were teammates offering pointers and coaches always at a player's side anytime something went wrong. And a parent was at a player's side, too. One girl started to have an episode and refused to leave the bench. Her mother had to come over and talk to her. When one girl on the opposing team complained of stomach pain, her coach benched her and sent in a replacement. I was relieved none of them were told to tough out anything.

What I couldn't get over was just how excited the girls were to play the game. They were ready and willing to play basketball! All of that running back and forth on the court and they never tuckered out. They were game for the game!

I also had to reflect on what a great job the coach did in coaching these girls for this season. The coach only had experience coaching boys, not girls, and I think he did an amazing job coaching a girls' basketball team. Yay, Coach McCarthy!

It was sad to see all of this come to an end. The practices and the games. I had a great time associating with the parents and Jen enjoyed hanging out with her new friends. There were girls from different schools, different cities, so it's not like she'll get to see that many of them too often after today. We're both sad about this because she really likes her teammates (and that's a good thing, because I've stressed to her many times the importance of getting along with your teammates), but we are both grateful that we got to meet them and know them, even in this short time.

After the game, we parents took pics of the team. I look forward to printing out all the pics I took and putting them into an album. The season was short but it was definitely memorable. We're all the more excited for what new memories and friendships next season will bring!

She's got game

When KidSports offered a basketball clinic for K-2 graders, I knew I had to sign Jennifer up! She loves sports and was disappointed she couldn't participate in basketball at the Y. So we were both happy that yet another chance to play basketball came up for her. Woo-hoo!

The basketball clinic is headed by University of Oregon men's bssketball star player A.D. Smith. You can read all about it here:
http://www.kidsports.org/clinics/kinderbasketball09.htm

There were other coaches there, for the different teams. Jennifer decided to be on the orange team. They practiced a bunch of different drills. There was A LOT of running. The kids got to do some free-play with shooting hoops and dribbling, but they also had to practice things like guarding, traveling and taking shots from different areas of the court.

When Jen started to just play and shoot hoops, I was blown away at how well she threw that ball. I mean, she REALLY threw that ball! I know she's athletic but I never realized my scrawny offspring was so strong! There were a lot of times she threw that ball behind the hoop. One time, the ball even got stuck up there and she had to ask one of the coaches to get it down for her.

After a lot of drills and trying different actions, she came to sit next to me for break. I asked her if she was having fun.

"Mom, it's so boring," she whined. "I want to play basketball."

"Well, Jennifer, you have to learn basketball before you can play basketball. You are doing these drills for a reason, you know? You gotta practice guarding and bouncing the ball around, so that when you play, you can do those things well."

I don't think she really got all that. Mostly, she was upset over not having free reign to just run around and shoot hoops. But I kept up the encouragement and tried to get her excited about being on a team and having a coach. Every time she made a basket, I cheered and clapped. I was really proud of how well she played. Not bad for a first day. She'd been so worried about making mistakes and playing bad, so I was relieved that she ended up playing so well. (She gets that from ME, ya know! LOL)

After practice, I took a picture of her with A.D. Smith:



She really enjoyed basketball and we're both looking forward to going to more practices. I'll have to start taking her to a park with a B-Ball court so she can play and shoot hoops all she wants to.