I asked her why she didn't want to take dance lessons anymore, and she told me it was because she sweat too much, and she missed out on what was going on at home while she was in her one-hour-a-week class. I explained that basketball is a lot of running, and that it would actually take more time out of her week than dance did. Craig was all for basketball, as it was much, much, (did I say much?) cheaper than dance.
So, we had our first practice and game last week. How'd it go?
Callie had never played basketball. I'm pretty sure she had no idea on the concept, rules, or fundamentals of the game. And last week proved that. I was also quite confident she'd be injured, as she isn't very graceful. Last week also proved that.
She's only in first grade, so this is all for fun (thankfully). It's about learning at this stage. Craig took her to her first practice and reported back that she wasn't very good but was improving towards the end. And she had back to back games on Sunday. That was interesting. And entertaining. And, well, sort of exhausting.
She didn't handle the ball much, I am not sure she was very aware of its location 90% of the time. She got to inbound the ball a couple of times, until she kept handing it to the either team. She dribbled (I use that term loosely. Very loosely.) the ball down the court a time or two as well. I could tell that by the second game she was getting the hang of it. She was putting her hands up on defense and actually following the ball up and down the court. In between games is when her injury occurred, of course. A ball hit her tooth and knocked it right out. Luckily for her, it was a tooth that needed to come out and not a permanent tooth. I, in turn, lost the tooth somewhere that day but that's a whole other blog post! And the girls did a great job and won both games.
All in all, she did pretty well for a 6 year old. Tonight we had our second practice, and she made two shots in a row. A huge improvement. She dribbled better. She hustled more. She hugged me and told me she loved basketball. And that is what it's all about. 