Basketball Jones

A few weeks ago Joshua began his second season of an organized sport. He tried out soccer in Sahuarita, but this time decided to try basketball. He knew that I like to play and he enjoyed playing NBA Live on the Wii. When we showed up to the first practice he could barely dribble the ball and all he really had to offer was desire. He ended up on a team with four or five kids that could play pretty well and another 5 or so that were just learning. In the beginning he really struggled and was discouraged because it was all so complicated. His coach really wanted to teach them plays, but Josh didn't even know the really basic fundamentals (passing, dribbling, shooting, etc.)

This post is really about the last game, played yesterday. In the second to last game Joshua finished up the game really bummed about basketball. His teammates didn't pass him the ball and he had trouble getting to it. We had a discussion about it and Genni and I encouraged him to keep working hard. He chose to play in his last game and it was his best all around effort. He didn't make any baskets, but he probably shot more this game than in all the others combined. He fought for some rebounds and even picked up some loose balls. In other games he would be oh-so-close, but the ball would slip away before he got it. Most important to me, he kept working hard, even when the ball wasn't coming his way. I was proud of him and his efforts. It was very satisfying to see his efforts pay off in a great all around game for him.

Who knows what my childrens' long term interests will be?  However, at this point, I don't see Joshua being too involved in athletics. He just doesn't seem interested enough. However, this has been a good experience where he had to work hard at something that didn't come easy to him.