The three smiling faces that kick off this post tell a small piece of a larger story. These three girls have played soccer together for several years. In October 2020 their parents convinced them all to try out for their middle school basketball team. Reluctantly, they all agreed with the thought that they wouldn't make it since they had not played basketball in any organized fashion. Much to Callie's chagrin, not only did they make the team, but the small number of girls who tried out also guaranteed they were going to be getting a fair amount of playing time.
We soon found out that middle school practices were intense. The schedule called for at least five days a week, two hours a day. Now, Callie and her friends certainly needed more practice, but it was still a bit of a culture shock. However, these girls relished the time together especially since their actual school was all virtual. Basketball practice gave them time together that they desperately needed.
As you might expect, the actual basketball was only one of the challenges here. An early covid exposure quarantined most of the time only weeks into the season, but it was at that point when we realized just how incredible and dedicated the coach of this team was. Coach K didn't let quarantine prevent him from building his team. He held virtual meetings and even had the girls that were not exposed practice while the other ones zoomed in. Not sure Callie was excited to be one of the in person players, but she certainly needed additional time with the ball.
Once the games started we were pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed watching from the sidelines, and were even more taken with how Callie started to get into basketball as a whole. She started playing in both the 6th-7th grade games and the 8th grade games. Coach K clearly liked her athleticism and her attitude. And he continued to show his dedication. He had to miss a game because of his own exposure, but through a parent's generosity watched the game from the sidelines via FaceTime on a phone. The girls gathered around the phone during timeouts and at half time to listen to his feedback. And when the game ended he talked to them for a good 10 minutes as the parents waited and the opposing schools janitors tried to get us all out of the gym. We should note that although all of this makes Coach K sound intense, the fact is that he is a bit of a basketball whisperer. He is extremely positive, supportive, and the exact kind of coach you want for middle school girls. By season's end Callie was already excited about playing in 8th grade.
Reese also had her athletic outlets with soccer transition from the outdoor fall season to the indoor winter season. In fact they even had a tournament on MLK weekend up in Cincinnati. The girls played hard, won a couple of games, and had a lot of fun together.
Reese did have basketball as well. Not surprisingly, her season was dramatically affected by the pandemic. Her league tried to create its own version of an NBA-like bubble, but that didn't do much to create a substantial season. Nevertheless, she still got to play a bit and see some of her non-soccer friends, which is just as important.
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