Basketball Season

We had a rough start to basketball season this year, but it turned out so great.  I'm really happy that we pushed through.

I really wanted my kids to know how to play basketball and at least know the basics, so I made Penelope, Scarlett and Leon all play.  Leon was the most for it.  Penelope was dead set against it.  There were so many days before the season started when she was angry at me for making her sign up for basketball.  I think she was really scared and taking it out on me.  Scarlett didn't really want to, but we had a deal that she was ok with.  The deal was, if she does it this one season she doesn't have to do it again.

I made arrangements with my manager to get off work early on Monday's and Wednesdays in order to take the kids to baskeball.  When the schedule came out they changed the days to Wednesdays and Fridays.  So on Friday's the kids had to walk from school and then hang out in the gym, with Calista, for about three hours, total.  I was worried about it.  That turned out just fine too.

Leon had a great coach.  He really taught them basketball and they had a good time.  Leon was one of the oldest and tallest kids and did really well during the games.  He regularly scored the most points for his team.  It was so fun to watch.  He had never played on a team before so we were a little surprised.  The rules for his age group were a little different.  They could not steal from meach other.  They were only allowed to intercept during a pass.  Leon says he would like to play again next year and see what it is like when you can steal.

For Scarlett we requested the same coach the girls had for soccer.  Penelope aged out of that group into the 13-15, so she had to be with the older kids.  Before the season started I asked the director if Penelope could play on the 10-12 team with Scarlett.  I knew they would probably say no, but I told them how she is small and has pretty much no experience.  They did say no.   But on the first day of practice the director was actually the coach of the 13-15 team.  Before they even started, he took one look at Penelope and went and had her switched to the younger team.  She was grateful and so was I.  The older team was all male and all two feet taller than her.  It was a good choice all around.  Once on the younger team I don't think anyone even knew she was older.

Their coach is great at basketball and was much harder on the kids than she was for soccer.  I don't think Penelope and Scarlett liked that at first but it didn't bother me at all.  She was never mean or yelling at them, but she did do things like make them run laps if they were talking, and practice drills over and over again.

Penelope and Scarlett both learned so much, it was amazing.  They went from not being able to dribble to knowing the basics just like I wanted.  Neither of them were the stars of the team.  In fact they were both in the group of kids that the coach kept subbing out.  The coach had her main players that stayed in the whole time and then a few that subbed in and out with each other.  I was really happy with how much they both girls improved.  Scarlett tried really hard and was not afraid of the ball.  Both girls struggled getting the other teammates to pass to them.  Penelope was aggressive while she played, in one of the videos you can see her push someone much bigger than her.  She scored a basket during the last game, it was so exciting for everyone.  

Both girls are happy that they played the season and Scarlett surprised me by saying she would like to do it again next year.  Penelope does not want to play again but she did enjoy it while it lasted.