Basketball Season 2013-2014

Evan started his first season of basketball with a local church league in our community in December.  They had the first practices and games and then took a long break for Christmas before starting back in January.  The season ended on February 15th so I am more than a little behind on this post.  He is starting another season of baseball this month so I definitely needed to get caught up.  The church that hosted this sports program is a large church in our area that has a big youth ministry comprising these sports programs.  They reach a lot of young people in our community with this great ministry and the focus of all the sports is always focused on ministering to the young people and their families.  Our church does not have a sports program so I am very glad this church has chosen to focus their children's ministry in this area.  The sports are not as competitive here and are just focused on teaching the kids the fundamentals of the game and good sportsmanship.  They also had devotions and prayer at every practice and game.  It was a very fun and rewarding experience for all of us!

They had a little opening ceremony to welcome all of the players and called all the kids to run in wearing their uniforms.  

There goes our Evan...#5!

The team huddle at the first game of the season.

Our little player prepares to play his first quarter.  They played man-to-man defense so he wore a colored wristband that matched a player on the opposite team that was his man to cover. 

He really got the game very quickly considering it was his first season playing.  His only other basketball experience was a little basketball clinic at the YMCA when he was not quite 4.  

Everyone wore the same jerseys in this league with the shirts being reversible so they could be either blue or gray.  

The cheering section.

Our coach was such a sweet man and really good with the boys and his wife was awesome too.

Evan showing he's open for the pass.

Listening to the coach. 

Taking a little break during halftime while a little show and lesson was put on by the church leaders.

I just love the varying heights of boys at this age.  Evan is kind of right in the middle on height right now which I suspect will be about where he'll stay. 

The end score of the first game was very close although sadly we didn't win.  It was still a great game!

Preparing for the second game. 

He's ready.  He actually scored his first goal of the season at this game.

Trying to get open or pass the ball.

Little brother liked watching the game.  

Evan preparing for another quarter.

The lighting in gymnasiums is not great for taking pictures.  

Fighting for the rebound.

Looking for a pass.

Good game, boys!

The first game after the Christmas break is about to begin.

Evan did great dribbling down the court.

My little champ

He got the ball a lot during the last game.

Ready to help his teammate.

His cousin Lanny was there to help.

They had a little end of season party after the last game to eat pizza and snacks and get their awards.  

Evan actually said he didn't want any pizza so Brody ate his piece.

Coach gave Evan his "game ball" from the second game where he scored his first goal.

And he got a little award for being fearless and a good passer.

And he got a sweet little trophy for his collection.

I hope all of these will help to inspire him and remind him what he can accomplish with hard work and perseverance.

I made him show off his award when he got home.

Evan's little game ball.

And now we are about to embark on the most competitive sports season yet as we enter the realm of machine pitch baseball.  We actually bought Evan his first cup today...there's one for the memory books!  Eddie will be assistant coaching, and the kids actually had evaluations yesterday.  Tonight, Eddie and the other coaches got together to select the teams based on the performance evaluations.  Eddie said it was like the major league drafts, and luckily, he and his coach got the first draft pick.  Yay!  But seriously, we are praying that this will be a good experience for Evan and us.