Basketball Practice

Jaelyn had her first basketball practice of the season tonight.  As I was sitting on the gym floor at Lickdale Elementary School, a couple of thoughts were running through my head.  First thought was how small the gym looked – when I went to school there the gym always seemed so big.  It almost didn’t even seem like the same room.  I have only been back to Lickdale a handful of times since I left there at the end of sixth grade.  Everything just seems so much smaller.

The next thoughts that went through my head were that I wished Scott was there.  He loved to play basketball so much and he would have loved to watch Jaelyn play.  Scott would have been at the basketball net tomorrow practicing the skills with Jaelyn.  He certainly would not have been sitting quietly watching the practice.  He would have been calling in his own coaching of Jaelyn during the practice. Scott should have been a coach – he couldn’t just sit on the sidelines at any practice or game that Jaelyn was in.   I wanted to sit there and cry, it hit me so hard how much he would have loved this.  Scott always liked to watch Jaelyn play soccer, but basketball would have been so much more fun for him, since he loved to play it so much.

It was kind of amusing to watch the difference between Jaelyn and the one other girl on the team versus the boys on the team.  Both Jaelyn and Victoria stood quietly, holding their balls, and listening to the coach explain each drill and what it would teach them.  The boys on the other hand were bouncing their balls, chasing their balls across the gym, and generally looking in every direction other than at the coach.  There is a mix of skill levels on the team, but the coach seems really good, taking the time to teach skills and correct technique.  It is going to be fun to see the improvement of these kids throughout the season.