The Frustrating Game of Little Dribblers

Keith and I ventured into the world of being a sports parent last year.  Granted Ava had played soccer when she was 4 we don't really count that experience b/c it was simply entertaining at that point!  T-ball was fun and we enjoyed watching the girls learn the sport and make new friends.

We've been playing Little Dribblers for four weeks now and let me tell you, I am my father's child.  My inner competitiveness and perfectionism comes out when it comes to basketball and it is HARD to watch.  I end up taking videos on my phone to keep my mouth shut!  I think basketball is harder b/c it is a true team sport.  Everyone must play together in order for it to really work and that is a really hard thing to teach the first year along with the rules of the game and dribbling...dribbling is hard for a 5 and 7 year old!  Hats off to our coach as she has done a fantastic job taking 8 1st and 2nd graders (and one kindergartener) and getting them to understand the basics of the game.  It's a hard job!

I did learn that my beautiful mother in law has that same competitive spirit as I do...she is just able to mumble and I on the other hand tend to be a little loud.  :)

We have Ava playing up this year.  She is the smallest on the team, but she works hard and plays hard.  She really wants to dribble the ball, and does a fantastic job on defense. 

She works hard to get open on offense and often times is left open b/c well, she's the smallest and her gal gravitates toward the ball.  This is where my inner momma bear comes out when Ava is WIDE open and everyone else is covered and her teammates won't pass her the ball.  It's not personal, I know that.  It is lack of knowledge of teamwork but it is hard to explain that to a 5 year old who is trying her best to do what she is told and to no avail.  However, she has the BEST attitude and I just love her smile.  Her hard work this year is going to put her ahead of her peers next year. 

True to Carli's nature, she is getting more into the game the more she is understanding the game.  She wants to know the rules and how it all works before she will really make an effort to play.  Over the last couple of weeks she has gone from timidly guarding her man, to volunteering to in bound the ball, actively trying to steal the ball, getting rebounds, making great passes and even took a shot this week!  

It's blurry but this is one of the very few times Carli opted to dribble down the court, then she stopped looked up and passed the ball to her teammate who was further down the court and I LOVED IT!  In her heart, she is a team player. 

 

 

Carli had a cold last Friday and she sit out at practice.  She and I sit on the court and talked through what the team was doing during practice.  She is so funny b/c she will tell you she does not like basketball but once we get there it was really hard to keep her sitting still b/c she wanted so desperately to go play!

 

The little brother is a good sport.  In his 7 months he has already endured tball, swimming and basketball.  He will be one well rounded little ball player by the time he is old enough to play!

We have two more Saturdays of games left (four games) and then the season tournament.  We thought basketball would be fun b/c it was a seven week season - it is exhausting!  Two games every Saturday and the stress of explaining teamwork to young kids and yeah, it's hard and frustrating...