A Sweet Ending to Upward

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.   

Trying Out Upward Basketball

One evening this past November, I was thinking about Harper and sports.  So far, that hasn't been a great combination.  We tried the Great Beginnings softball program a couple years ago, and it was pretty much a disaster.  There was one "Coach" facilitating the practice, but the parents were the partners for the kids in everything.  Did I mention Harper was three?  And that it was right after work?  I will never forget that last practice.  After Harper defiantly refused to do an activity for the 400th time, I finally said, "We're leaving."  And I meant it.  And we did.  I packed us up, and we just left.  I guess I'll save the "we aren't quitters" speech for down the road because boy, did we quit.  And I cried.  I'm not even sure if I made it to the car before I cried in frustration, but at least I made it past our sweet, nearly perfect friend who was there watching her son play nicely with her husband.  Ugh.

Anyway, we haven't done an organized sport situation since.  But, Harper has been joining Sam at his pick up basketball practices, and seems to really like dribbling and passing around.  So, when she came back one evening and showed me her dribbling skills, I thought, Hmmm....I wonder if she's old enough to play on a basketball team.  I found out that Roanoke County leagues don't start until age 7, but then I came across Upward.  I've heard of Upward and knew the premise, so when I saw that the deadline to sign up was literally that night, I figured it was a sign, and that I should sign her up.

So, within a few days, I got an email about the "tryout" (a.k.a., let's make sure all the good kids aren't on the same team), and that may be where I realized it probably wasn't a sign.  Haha.  She seemed so good dribbling in the living room.  Shooting on a real (8 foot) basket-- not so much.  But, she really liked it and was excited about the upcoming season, so Upward Basketball it is! 

 

Harper was placed on the Bears with Coach Travis and Coach Jimmy.  Let me just say that those men have a crown in Heaven for their efforts with this group of ten kindergarteners and first graders (8 boys and two girls).  At that first game, it was nothing short of hilarity.  It was like herding cats.  Maybe part of me was appreciative that Harper wasn't the only completely unfocused child of the bunch, and I did actually laugh out loud when the Coach told the kids to go back on defense and one of the boys got down in a three point stance (as in football defense).  It's cute and funny and crowded in that gym, but she's liking it and we haven't had to do a walk of shame yet, so that has gotta be a good sign.

Sam's family has been able to come to a few games, and so far, my favorite memory from her games has been her stopping right in the middle of the game to run off the court and give Mimi a hug and kiss!  Usually her easily distractedness drives me crazy, but that was just precious.