Gettin' Their Basketball On

Lily is into month two of Junior High Basketball. After her success in volleyball, we were hopeful that she would have an equally positive attitude about basketball. She doesn't complain much when she goes to practice, but at games she sits on the sidelines looking like she'd rather poke her eyes with a fork.

The team has 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls. The 8A and 8B teams are made up of 8th and some 7th graders. The 7A and 7B team are made up of the other 7th graders and 6th graders. Lily gets a limited amount of game time in the 7A games. In division 1A sports in Wyoming, there sometimes is no 7B team from the other schools because they simply don't have enough girls. But when there are enough girls, Lily plays most of the 7B games.

Lily didn't get to play in her first game because she missed two practices, out with a chest cold. So she got to "keep book" or write down all the fouls, shots scored, free throws, etc.

She liked that job pretty well. :)

During the games Amelia keeps herself entertained making bracelets on her Rainbow Loom.

She's very popular with the girly set.

"Ahhhh, Mama! No pictures!"

Mack usually runs wild in the commons area with a pack of little boys.

I've been impressed with Lily's efforts to move up the court and use her size to really get in front of the ball.

You'll notice that Lily's wearing regular sneakers instead of basketball shoes. Her feet are still growing and I wasn't willing to pony up the cash for good basketball shoes for just one season. Hopefully by next year her feet will be done growing and we can buy her some good shoes.

Last weekend Lily had two away games in Pinedale and Big Piney (close to Dan's rig). As luck would have it, he'd gotten home the day before so he had the pleasure of making the drive yet again! It was fun, though. The Sirius XM radio was working even though we don't subscribe, so we got to listen to a lot of fun old music. Did you know that classic rock is starting to be considered oldies? Horrifying.

The 7A team was playing first and we didn't know if there would be a 7B game because Big Piney only had seven 7th grade girls total (I'm not sure if any of the other schools have 6th grade girls on their teams). It drove Dan and I crazy to watch Lily sitting on the sidelines, separated from her team and looking like being there was the biggest waste of her time. She got told to sit with her team and stop being disrespectful more than once by her father.

She had a couple of minutes in the 4th quarter but her play was timid and she had no hustle in her step. But things changed once the 7B game started (those poor Big Piney girls had to play two full games!)

Playing with the girls in her class and being a starter on the 7B team seemed to do a lot for her confidence. She played much more aggressively. At some point one of the opposing players threw some elbows and that got Lily all fired up. It was good for her to play a little mad because she put her heart into it.

She was ready on the rebound and took several shots.

She scored 10 points in the game and she gave it her full effort. We were so proud of her! She's got a natural talent for the game and if she can get her desire up to the level of her talent, she will be an awesome basketball player. (And it wouldn't hurt for her to get fully invested in the team and join hands for the hurrahs at the end of the game!) Coach Barnes is so good with those girls!

I made this video in iMovie on my MacBook Pro. It's such a cool program and super easy to use.

(Note Amelia whining at the end, "I wanna go out there and play!")

Yesterday Lily and I were talking about her game and I was complimenting her on how well she did. She said, "You know, if you asked me which I liked better, volleyball or basketball, I'm not sure which I would choose. Volleyball is fun, but there's something about basketball..."

That's a good sign!

Amelia continued to enthrall the girls with her Rainbow Loom, only this time it was the older 7th grade girls who wanted a piece of the action!

Amelia is in her first year of Jr. Jazz basketball. ScrambleBall, I like to call it. The program lasts for 6 weeks with 3 practices and 3 games. It's very low-key and basically just gives the kids some exposure to basketball. When she first got her jersey, Amelia was sad because she thought zero meant you were the worst player. But we told her about Dan's grandfather, Pepa, who was a truck driver. His handle on the CB radio was "Double Ot". 00. Amelia was OK with her number after that.

Amelia totally loves it! She was so nervous for her first game last week, but once she got out there she had a great time. She was aggressive and really tried her best.

Dan was on the rig for Amelia's first game. He was so proud when he saw the pictures and noticed that she had her eyes up while she was dribbling and passing.

Of course, there were other times when dribbling was optional:

Amelia was especially good at defense.

"I'm watchin' you!"

She was all smiles at the end of the game.

It's sure good to have an outlet for their energy during these long cold months. If only we could get Mack into an intensive Mixed Martial Arts program. Ultimate Fighting, Baby!