6th Grade Basketball

Happy New Year!  Just kidding!  I know tomorrow is Valentine's Day...but I'm a lot behind on my blog.  One of my goals this year is to keep up a little better over here...and so far I'm not off to a very good start.  I miss keeping track of our memories...and I know my family who lives far away does too.  I'm going to try and catch up on this past year...even though it's old news...so that I can start fresh.  I think being caught up will make me feel less overwhelmed...and that way I can document the the little things like I used to do.

Brady decided in November to try out for the 6th grade travel basketball team at his school.  He decided this about a week before tryouts.  We were a little surprised....and super excited.  Eric and I both played one sport in high school- basketball.  We were both very serious about it and played on top state teams.  Being a part of a team is fun...and something Brady hasn't gotten to experience much with tennis...at least not until he gets to play on the high school team.

Brady made the team which meant two practices and two games per week.  Mix that in with his tennis schedule and we were running a bit ragged.  I forgot how long the basketball season is!  We (the parents) survived and Brady enjoyed everything that comes along with being a part of a team.  I became kind of the team "driver" carting kids who needed rides to games and practices.  Pizza and donuts and sleepovers and attending the high school games with his teammates made the experience all the more FUN!

Brady's team won one game all season.  Thankfully they were in a Christmas tournament and won two games so it didn't seem so bad.  Brady improved his game quite a bit from that first practice to the last game.  I think he made the team because of his height...and he was best at getting rebounds.  He averaged about 2pts a game and had a high game of 6pts.   He started and played most of the game...and still only had two fouls the entire season!  It was kind of a joke among the parents in the stands whether Brady would foul or not.  We even bribed him one game by telling him that if he got a foul, he could stay up past his bedtime.  He didn't do it...being aggressive I guess is not his thing.  His excuse was that he didn't want to "foul out"....but I think he just didn't want to risk hurting anyone!  

I think basketball was a humbling experience for him.  I could tell he was nervous at times out on the court...not always knowing where he should be or what he should be doing.  Such a big contrast from the tennis court.   Lots of good life lessons to be learned for sure.  He reminded us a couple of times that he was playing basketball just for "fun."  And FUN it was for him and for us!