M3 has been playing in a recreational basketball league for several years now and every Saturday I sit in my car in the parking lot and do some work for an hour while she does drills. Then I go in to watch the last hour, which is a game. Well today is Chinese New Year (Kung Hei Fat Choy to anyone reading) so I’m not going to do any work. I started to reflect on M3’s basketball journey and decided to write a blog about it. (I’m posting one day after I started this blog.)
While her sisters danced competitively, M3 tried dancing and
it wasn’t her cup of tea (she danced like her dad). Then she tried
basketball and she said she enjoyed it. So
we signed her up in a recreational house league. It’s not at a very high competitive level but
it challenged her and helped her physical development. I told her she doesn’t have to be in a
competitive league like her sisters, just go out, challenge yourself and have
fun. If you try your best and improve,
then Mommy and Daddy will be proud of you.
After all, that is the Canadian way, eh?
Beat your personal best.
Well, the first session was quite successful. M3 had lots of fun and made some friends (too
bad they moved to a higher league the next season). Although her team did not win, they got a
trophy. Each team got a trophy and the
size depended on your position in the standings. When M3 went up to get her trophy she was
extremely happy. Afterwards she ran to
me all excited and exclaimed, “This is the first trophy I ever got!” Seeing her like that made me extremely happy
too, and I will remember that moment forever.
That was just before the COVID lockdown. Let’s talk about what’s happening now.
M3 is still in a recreational league where there are 4 teams
of around 12 girls each. They practise
for 1 hour and then play a game with 8 shifts of 6 minutes each, running
time. Ten girls would be the perfect
number so that you get to go on every other shift. But depending on attendance, you might get
double shifted or have to sit out an extra shift.
M3 is one of the shortest girls in the league. She is not the fastest nor strongest but she plays
sound defense. She has middle-of-the-road
skills but doesn’t always get to exhibit them because she is one of the most
passive players. This has been going on
for a couple of years but this latest session I’m seeing more improvement. The girls don’t crowd around the ball carrier
anymore and M3 is one of the better ones at getting open. She is starting to think the game
better. She helps out her teammates when
they are beaten on defense or when they need an outlet on offense. She can also chip in with the occasional basket. She generally gets zero to three baskets per
game. The scores are typically in the
30s so 6 points can be considered better than average.
The games now are also more competitive and exciting because
the girls know what they’re doing. One
time M3 had a game that was very exciting and her team won by one point. We had dinner plans and were supposed go pick
up M1 and M2 at home but M3 and I were in the car talking about the exciting game
and I forgot to pick up M1 and M2!
So far, her teams have finished in first, second, and fourth
– never third yet. Currently she is on a
4-session streak of first place. The
most recent one was very exciting because her team was actually in fourth after
the regular season. In the playoffs (all
4 teams make the playoffs), her team beat the first place team in the semi-finals. Then they ended up winning the championship
game the following week.
Just this past week, M3 tried out for her school basketball
team. Two girls play in her recreational
league. Some girls play in a higher
level league. I wasn’t sure if she would
make the team because I would think the girls who try out would play outside of
school and would probably have better skills.
Well, she made the team and while we don’t know what her role will be, I
am very happy that she tried her best and made it. Overall, I am very happy with M3’s basketball
journey thus far and am anxious to see what lies ahead.
Big Oh
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