Little Bean Plays Her First Game
Parents Get Scolded
Something I knew but never actually experienced up until Saturday - kids’ sports are bedlam. Parking. Getting a seat on the bleachers.
I can’t remember a time when I had trouble finding parking for a music or library event. Such is the nature of priorities I suppose.
No matter. Little Bean’s first basketball game of the season, and of her career I’d add, was… fun! They lost. I was about to say, they lost of course, but the other team had a star player that was ridiculously talented and nobody could stop her.
The Road Runners lost 16-6 and most of that 16 was scored by the one player. To their credit, after getting behind 12-0, they rallied in the second half. Little Bean’s was on the third quarter line, in fact, that scored her team’s first four points.
She had one steal and three great passes that could have turned into assists if the other player hit the hoop.
Anyway, you know, it’s kids and it was the first time for most of them. I chatted with the ref after and he shrugged. “You know, they’re learning and it has to be fun,” he said. “You saw there was some traveling I didn’t call and they had to learn on the fly, but they’ll figure it out as the season goes on.”
That seems like a pretty good attitude.
What did surprise me was the little speech the guy from city parks and rec gave to parents in the bleachers about some law that was just passed where parents could get arrested for physical or verbal abuse of coaches, the ref or the players.
That’s kind of a ugly thought, no? We didn’t get that speech before the holiday chorus concert.
I was a little worried she’d be bummed after the game, but she wasn’t. I took her for a smoothie to celebrate.
One of her best friends is the team captain and she was over the house later. And even she wasn’t sad. This was her second year on the team. “This was the best game we ever had,” she said excitedly. So, yeah, they got that going for them!
So basically, this will be my life now for the next eight Saturdays - 10 if they make it to the championship, so, you know, eight. (LOL)
Honestly, as long as she keep a good attitude and a brawl doesn’t break out in the stands between parents, basketball and smoothies doesn’t sound like a terrible way to pass a Saturday morning. Maybe I could get used to this. Go team!
This reminds me of when my daughter played Rec League softball. Her team lost every single game--but she loved it!
This reminds me of a funny and cringe-worthy episode of the TV show "Everybody Loves Raymond," in which the title character is one of those parents who takes youth sports (basketball) too seriously. His twin sons are on a team; one is a decent player, the other isn't. His comments and how they change over the course of the episode (and how the other characters react--everyone has moved to either end of the bleachers so there's several feet of empty space all around him by the end!) is a bit overplayed, but still relatable.