the end of basketball

Saturday was the last basketball game of the season for both the kids. Breanna's season was good. They don't keep score at her age so according to the girls on the team, they won every game, which is good. They only had a few girl teams, (half the girls sign up for cheerleading which is a complete waste if you ask me) so they played the same teams over and over through the season. The girls' teams only had 6 or 7 players on each team too.

Breanna had to work harder than some girls at getting the ball because she doesn't have the height advantage that many of the other girls have, but she played hard. Breanna was always where she was supposed to be on the court and was one of the few players that understood the game. One little gal on her team was well known for stealing the ball from her own teammates. This last game she stole it from Bree at least three different times. I guess that is how it goes and they will continue to learn more each year.

We were very impressed with Breanna's attitude and determination this whole season. It never ceases to amaze me how much energy she has. She just doesn't slow down.

You might notice Breanna's cute purple socks. She called them her lucky socks and wore them most games. I think they must have worked. Good job little squirt! Joshua's team wasn't the strongest team on the court by any stretch of the imagination. They won only one game and that one was really close. But I was very impressed with the coach on Joshua's team. Every game they introduce the kids on the court. His coach would have special names for each kid (no other coach did this). Joshua was always introduced as, Jammin' Josh Corry.

I was also impressed how he really watched how the kids played. After each game the kids earn little stars that they can iron onto their jerseys. Each star is a different color and represents different things. For example, the grey star is best offense, the blue star is for best effort, the white star is the most Christlike etc. Joshua's coach always really watched the kids play and instead of just awarding the stars randomly, he really made sure the kids earned their stars. If they really did well scoring, they usually got the best offense. If they had some great blocks and assists, they got best defense etc. Josh has earned all the different stars throughout the season but this last week Josh got the red star for best sportsmanship. The coach said that Joshua was always a great sport though tout the whole season. He said Joshua never got riled and upset, but just enjoyed the game.

The other night he looked very concerned and asked us if the team that they beat had won any games. We told him we didn't know and he said he sure hoped they had won at least one game because he would have felt really bad for them if they didn't. He is a very empathetic child.

Josh really improved this season and started to get into the mix. He used to stand back and hesitate getting aggressive. But this year he has really done well. He had to defend some really good players and he never backed down. He made some great shots and loved setting those picks. Nice work bud!