What an absolutely magical way to end this first season of Upward basketball. Maybe not even magical. Maybe more like miraculous.
Harp has had a great time playing basketball this year, but she certainly hasn't shown herself as a "natural." haha. She has only even shot the ball in one game leading up to today, and most of her time on the court has been spent just running around, usually making her way to stand directly under the basket. Or watching the cheerleaders. She does a lot of that, too. But, she has racked up quite a few rebounds.
We have a basketball goal in the driveway that was here when we moved in. Since it's set at the standard 10 foot height, Harper doesn't even really try to shoot on it because she's not strong enough to get it there. Well, a few weeks ago, we finally got around to lowering it to the 8 foot goal that Upward uses. And she's practiced every. day. since. Even when it's 40 degrees, she wants to go out there and shoot, at least for a little bit. After a few weeks of this every day practice, she's finally able to do something that resembles shooting a basketball. Before, it looked more like an overhead soccer pass or hurling a shot put. But, even at that, she probably makes one out of every ten tries.
On our way over to the game this morning, I told her she should try to shoot if she gets a chance. She said, "I know, mom. It's my last game." She knew it'd be another year before she got the opportunity to try again. I had secretly been praying that half our kids wouldn't show up so that she would get to play more than half the game (each game is split into two halves, each made up of three periods, so they usually play every other one which makes about 18 minutes). The only game she's shot in so far has been a game where they only had 7 players, so she only sat out one period and was able to get in her groove, even if it was a shoot-nowhere-near-the-rim groove.
The other thing tempering my expectations of the game was that it was a 9:00 a.m. We aren't exactly early birds on the weekend, so I was a bit afraid that Harper would still be rubbing the sleep from her eyes when the first whistle blew. I was a little disappointed when she didn't start in the first period, but maybe that was a good thing so that she wouldn't be nervous. She came out in the second period, and was excited to see that her wristband matched up with Lila, her friend from school on the other team. They were so cute running around, guarding each other constantly.
Harper got to take the ball out and dribbled it up the court a few times, which is usually the extent to which she touches the ball. But, the Bears' little all star Silas brought the ball up the court, so Harper did her usual run-and-stand-under-the-basket, but this time, instead of going in and taking the shot himself, Silas passed the ball to Harper. Right by the basket. And then it felt like time slowed down. Just like the big moments in the movies. Harper is holding the ball and turns around and looks at her little cheering section of Sam, Poppy, Wills, and me, and we are all yelling "Shoot it! Shoot it!" And she does. And on her very first try, my sweet girl made a basket! I may have scared the team playing on the other court because we all went crazy. Like, our team just won the Olympics crazy. So crazy that I just started crying. I could. not. believe. it. I was just so proud of my Harper Mae that there was nowhere for it to go but out my eyes.
And I can cry even now, just thinking about it. The tears come because I'm impressed with this sweet five-year-old's dedication over the last few weeks, out there practicing to try to get better. And maybe they come even more because of my thankful heart. He fulfilled the desire of my little girl's heart and honored the fruits of her labor. I cried happy tears because my daughter got to see that hard work pays off and that she can accomplish her goals. Oh, I'll never forget her scoring that goal (even if they don't even keep score).
It was a precious way to end this basketball season. I am so appreciative of the two coaches that have poured into the lives of our daughter and the rest of the Bad News Bears. Often times when Harper isn't good at something right off the bat, she doesn't even care to try. She'll want to quit. But, that never even crossed her mind with basketball. She had fun, she made friends, and she learned more about living and playing with integrity. And I'm so grateful. So, if you're on the fence about Upward, go ahead and sign up. Yes, it will look like someone let ten cats out of a bag and are then trying to herd them back up. Yes, there will be times that you wonder if this is even a semblance of a basketball game. But it is funny. And character-building. And worthwhile. I'm so grateful we took a chance because there's no stopping this girl now.
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