Onward and Upward!

Today was the start of Upward Basketball. Our kids have done Upward Football/Cheer in the past, but this is the first time our kids have played basketball. They are really enjoying it so far!

It's funny to compare Taevy and Samren on the court. Samren is "all boy" and into anything "sports" so he has been excited about playing b-ball from the beginning. He's on a team of 1st-3rd grade boys. [Samren should be in 4th grade, but we held him back this year.] For the first time EVER he wasn't the shortest kid on the team! It's really exciting for him.

Sammy can hustle! His little feet are moving constantly. There is no lack of aggressiveness on the court, but he does lose control a lot! We started counting the number of times he fell down. Seven. Seven times in a 30 minute game! [He has always loved to fall down for some reason.] He received the "defence" star for his team at the end of the game, because he got lots of rebounds and a few steals.

Taevy is a whole different story! First, she is pretty shy by nature. All new experiences really freak her out. She wasn't happy that we signed her up for b-ball. She cried before the first practice, but then said she had fun. She cried last night about her upcoming game, but after the game today she said it was fun.

At the start of the game she was still in shy mode and ASKED to sit out the first period. 2nd period came and she was matched up (man to man) with the best player, on the best team in her league. Oh, she got whooped! Aggressive is NOT a word I would use to describe Taevy. And this is new for her, so she got mixed up about her role with offence vs. defence. She DID hustle, and for that we were very proud of her.Before half time we were getting killed! [It's not at all about score with this organization, but it was like 16-0.] We didn't know if T's team would make a basket. They are just 4 girls who have never played ball before! Well, when we were about to settle in for a long game Taevy surprised us by getting the ball on rebound and breaking away down the entire court, finishing off with a lay-up! She scored! EVERYBODY screamed and cheered and called her name! [Before that, they had been calling her name to remind her who she was supposed to be defending!]

When she made that basket it woke up her entire team! They still got the snot whooped out of them, but the rest of the game they made a few more baskets and were much better competition for the other team. Because of her efforts, Taevy received the "offense" star for her team! Go Taevy!!!

It was a fun morning, cheering on our big kids. I'm so proud of both of them for their efforts.