Let the Games Begin...

It has begun! The never ending running to this practice and running to that game...Jonathan has started playing organized sports. His first choice was basketball. From what I have heard, this is the easy part...We only have one child in sports right now. There is a family on his team that has three kids in basketball at the same time. Mom takes their daughter, dad takes the one son, and grandma or grandpa takes the other son to their games. Now that is crazy! We are actually having a great time right now. It is worth all of the running around to see how much Jonathan is growing in confidence! He really seems to like it too!

Here is a picture of his team, The Panthers! (Jonathan is #6.)



As you can see when the kids all line up, Jonathan is the shortest of all of them. I have been told that makes for a great guard (I think it was guard...), a great something anyway. Apparently that can help him zig-zag down the court and take the ball down to the net.

Here is that zig-zag in motion!

The kids are actually pretty good at dribbling the ball, when they remember to dribble, and making baskets. Most games you will hear coaches and parents saying "the other net" or "dribble the ball" as the kids get distracted and forget all of the things they are supposed to do. Now that they have been playing for a while, you hear less of these types of things. The kids are really picking up some skills!

Jonathan gets really excited when someone makes a basket. One of the neat things about the league Jonathan is in, is that it is a Christian league. You really don't have those crazy parents pushing the kids and yelling at everyone. The kids are also at an age where if a mistake is made by a teammate, they don't get upset, they just start heading down to the other net. Joe has commented on how nice that is to see.

The kids are learning that they need to pass the ball to others on their team, as well as they need to guard "their man" when the other team has the ball. This league uses colored bands that are placed on the wrist or shoulder to match the kids up. This helps make sure a highly skilled player is not guarding a lesser skilled player, and it helps the kids remember who they are supposed to guard. They just have to look at the color they are wearing.

Most times Grandma (Joe's mom) stays at our house with Jaden and Makayla. Makayla usually does alright at the games, but Jaden has a really hard time understanding why there are a bunch of kids playing with a ball and he can't go play with them...This picture was taken one of the games when Grandma couldn't watch the kids. I think Jaden was in the back row with Joe, so that he was a little more contained.

The baskets seem so high for the kids to play on, but they actually make it sometimes. Here is Jonathan getting ready for a shot.

And here he is with his "game face" on!

All in all this has been a great experience for all of us. Joe and I have been able to see a lot of growth in Jonathan and have had a great time watching him; and Jonathan has learned some new skills for basketball and teamwork and has had a great time doing it. Not to mention he gets to wear a uniform. Man that boy LOVES costumes!

Jonathan has three more games to go in this basketball season and he is already asking about soccer...