She shoots...

She SCORED!!

This is a memory I don’t want Anna to EVER forget! 

Anna decided to give basketball a whirl this year. It was mainly because I was coaching, so she had little choice in the matter. Our school opened peewee basketball up to 3rd-5th graders. The other schools we played were 4th-6th graders, so we were already at a slight disadvantage, but that never stopped their hustle!  Anna played on the 3rd grade team. As you know she is a tiny third grader. You can imagine her against 5th and 6th graders!! Her little team was never against any other third graders, and they were very seldomly playing against 4th graders. Just picture David and Goliath in basketball uniforms and you’ll get the idea!

After our first game Anna rode home in tears. “They are giants compared to us.” “We didn’t even get a shot, much less score!” “I was horrible!”...etc.etc.etc.

After ten minutes of her pitiful recollection of the twenty minute game, I thought she’ll never go back out there again. Finally I said, “Anna, you were up against fifth and sixth graders. No one expected you to win! All we cared about was that y’all played hard and had fun, and learned the game!”

 Well turns out she had fun! She loved it actually!!

So... the show went on! Practices made them better. Games made them tougher. Anna was loving it! 

Then one day I put her in at point guard. She was handling the ball well in practice, so I thought she’d be a good one for the job. Well, she took the ball down the court four times. Twice she turned it over... next thing I know. I’m the bad guy!! I should have never put her in that predicament! (I’ve mentioned she doesn’t like to mess up, right?!)

So, yesterday (our last game)  she is playing her little heart out! They all are. Our little third graders are holding their own against these fifth graders! We are tied 2-2! This could be the first win for our girls! Then I notice my point guard needs a rest! Anna sees it too, and she says “mama, I can play Point. I will!”

Y’all!!! You don’t know what kind of courage that took! As much as Casey and I try to instill confidence in her, she just didn’t have it when it came to playing point guard. I was so proud of her for giving it a shot!! Then, she took a shot and SCORED!!! I was jumping up and down on the sidelines like a kangaroo. The Regents crown erupted into loud cheers and praises! Anna said later she saw me jumping in the air like a crazy person with my fists pumping. I said, “yeah you did!!!” 

Later when our team had possession I could hear their coach yelling, “watch number 2!” Anna is number 2! I just smiled. Unlike Anna, I’m a legend in my own mind! I never think I’m terrible at anything! It instantly made remember the little pip squeak blonde playing basketball, and the coach yelling my number. “Guard 10! Guard 10! She’s their shooter!!” What he didn’t know was I was a terrible shooter! Defense I could play  all day, but somehow on that day  I managed to add 9pts in a matter of seconds! When I heard that for Anna, I couldn’t help but smile!! She just got the vote of confidence she needed to keep on playing the sport she had learned to love in a matter of weeks!

We went on to win the game in the last several seconds 6-4! It was the greatest game of our Regents PeeWee girls B team history 😜

Anna- I don’t want you to ever forget this! Your first basket!  It’s healthy to be a legend in your own mind sometimes!! At least I keep telling myself that -haha! You continue to amaze me, and I know your love of basketball will give us many more happy days like yesterday!!