Fearless

On Saturday, we went to Clare for the first 2 of Natalie's travel basketball games. Our team is new this year and has only practiced a few times together. Many, if not all, of the teams we play have played much longer. Well, that was no intimidation for our fearless 6th grade girls!

Natalie loves to play basketball, but she's admittedly not super athletic at this time in her life. A lot of the girls have played other sports and are more experienced. That would have made me so insecure at her age! Instead, Natalie plays to her strengths--being tall, for one. She handles the ball well, shoots well, but is clearly not aggressive! I laughed as I watched her, thinking, "i have made her much too polite for this game!" I guess watching her play sports always touches me. I know how her scoliosis affects her physically. She can't run as fast and coordination is more difficult to master. Guarding speedy little athletic girls proved to be quite a challenge, but she never gave up!!! That is what makes me most proud of her, for sure.

Watching the first 2 teams play before our game started, I became very nervous. Some of these girls were super aggressive, knocking other girls down, and stealing the ball. They were calling out plays and switching and all that other basketball stuff I know nothing about. I turned to Steve and said, "I am scared!" Yes, I got the little "what???" smirk, and then the "why are you scared" obligatory (is that a word) question. "These girls are animals out there! They'll tromp all over our girls". (shows my confidence, eh?) I was more afraid that Natalie's confidence would be shaken and she would forget to have fun. Of course, I didn't want her to get knocked down out there either!

So, I tapped on Serena's shoulder and said, "Hey, shut off your i-pod. This is important. You have to pray!" She said, "okay, what about?" "Well, that your sister has fun, for one, and that her glasses don't fly off her face, and that the team has a really good time". She promptly bowed her head, right there in the stands and prayed. Then I tapped my mom and said the same. Steve just kept smiling at me, and in his head, probably kept asking himself which planet he met me on. I prayed too, then I settled in to bite my nails. I mean, watch the game, of course.

Our girls went out there and played their hearts out. I was so proud of them! Each one put out their best effort and it showed. They won their first game and lost the second. The games were back to back, so our girls were pretty tired by that second game. I'm sure some people cared about the score, but I was just watching my girl try her best and not give up. She kept finding me in the stands while she was waiting to go out and I'd give her my 2 signals. The "ok" sign, and the "thumbs up"!

Go #1! I'm your biggest fan!!