Basketball

This year Dad decided to coach basketball for three very uncertain children.  He coached two teams because the ages were too far apart for everyone to be on one team. 

For Connor and Bella the team ended up being very competitive... and HUGE. The age range meant the kids were playing with an older group by about a year for Connor and two years for Bella.  At times it was frustrating for them because even just one or two years gives you so much more coordination and natural athletic ability.  They kept up though and made some massive improvements with their ball handling skills and shooting.  They both had an opportunity to score this year which was very exciting.  The team both the kids played on was the Chicago bulls.  Most of the kids were not very excited with that because it has been quite some time since the bulls have been a big deal but they came around when the colors ended up being black and red.  Connor and Bella’s team remained undefeated to the disappointment of many bad attitude parents and kids.  Sportsmanship is an ever present challenge in sports and in a league with no refs it is hard for just one coach to enforce standards.

Syds team was much more like babysitting, with constant battles over who got to touch the ball, and who was shooting too much. Poor Syd was the only girl on her team and her happy go lucky personality wasn’t quite tuned for the competition. She was more interested with holding Dad's hand than she was in playing the sport but after a stern talk with daddy she tried a lot harder and played some pretty good basketball.  Her dribbling, passing and shooting all improved over the season as she grew in confidence and experience.

Overall, having a Dad as a coach was not as much fun for the kids as they thought it would be.  Having to share Dad with other kids in there class was cool for a little while but then they started to realize that they weren’t going to get the individual attention that they all so crave.  Daddy has checked this off the bucket list and has officially retired from coaching.  But he will never stop coaching his little all stars at home in the backyard. And will always be their biggest, loudest fan!

-Shea

Sydney was probably the one that enjoyed basketball the least. She was the youngest on the team and the only girl, she was also the only one with no experience. But she tried her heart out and fought through her fears. Yes her thumb was in her mouth 70-90% of the time. Yes she held Shea’s hand (the coach) through most of the first games. But as the season went on she liked practice more and more and even made a few shots she enjoyed practicing and never gave up. Her smile is always contagious so seeing it was always my highlight. She did dread the games and felt pretty frustrated just running up and down the court for no reason. Considering she was too nervous to catch, pass, or throw the ball in; let alone try and make a shot. Shea was so sweet with her and it made me melt watching them together. Especially in the beginning games where she sucked her thumb and held Sheas hand as they ran up and down. There were quite a few falls and unfortunately, since if she wasn’t holding Sheas hand she was standing 2 inches behind him, where Shea stepped back on top of her so they both took quite the tumble. Shea miraculously managed to not injure her in the process every time and just hopped kind of over her. But she ended in tears from fright every time. She definitely stood out on that team. But on the up side she found the boy she is going to marry, "the boy from the other team that sits next to me and asks if I'm ok". He is a brother of a boy from Daddy's other team and yes does play too on another team, so once she played against him. He is at the sidelines of most of her games and it is so sweet. One game he sat next to us instead and totally shouted "I'll get her. I'll help her" a few times when she was crying on the court. He intently asked Piper or Bella why she was sad over and over again. I think this is when he started to notice Syd and they were bench buddies ever since. So there you have it: Basketball 0 Boys 1

Connor was the one child who looked forward to this the most! He wasn’t psyched to hear Bella would be on the team but made do all the same. He made friends and had a good spirit through it all, some kids were pros from the start so I worried he’d get discouraged but he wasn’t. He never stopped shouting for the ball or being himself. Shea got frustrated a bit because of his short attention span and “Why this or that...” during practice. But overall they both made each other so proud and I loved seeing how excited Shea would get watching him play. I sure hope Connor sticks with it.

Bella started off the season apprehensive and a bit intimidated by the size of many of her other teammates. But as it progressed she became more and more confident and proudly did her best. She didn't get passed the ball in the games and felt discouraged by this but kept a happy demeanor no matter what and by the end had scored several times in practices and was more devoted and attentive then many of the other players. Bella LOVED having Daddy coach, even if he got "intense" when he was coaching.

***Sidenote: Their basketball photos have been on the fridge ever since, and she developed an obsession with her smile. Now she hates her smile. All because of this photo. (insert cry emoji here)

For Shea coaching was rough. He had no assistants and coached two teams, he acted as ref most of the time, and the games were in the area but not always close. It was a lot of extra time, communicating with parents and planning/attending practices and games. With a heavy load at work that was only increasing it all proved to be too much. Shea also realized he enjoyed playing/coaching our kids individually more than anything else. Especially since while coaching the teams Sydney wasn’t enjoying it and Connor was intent on doing it his own way.

Overall I think Shea just got burnt out. I must say I loved watching him coach though, he did a great job and really impressed me. But I totally understand his need to keep things recreational with the kids and a little less "intense". He worried A LOT over parents and other coaches, and keeping everyone happy. In the end though a bunch of kids kept asking "What team are you coaching next season? Can I be on your team next time? What age are you going to coach? Are you coaching us again?" It was sure nice to hear in the end.

Even though he probably won't be running the court anytime soon, that doesn't mean he is giving up completely on his basketball dreams for the kids though. Recently everyone's favorite pastime is driving up to the school blacktop to practice and play HORSE, and the playground tends to be popular too. I think he does realize now it may not be everyone's thing but he can always dream. And he still can't wait to get that basketball hoop in front of the garage to play with the kids... one day.