The way he called me over, I knew he had something important to say. It was Sunday evening, and as usual I was hooping with the group of dads (and now some younger fellas I’m finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with).
You don’t have to just settle for the wide open jump shot. They can’t keep up with you, you’re running around so fast. If you get an open lane, cut to the basket. Easy bucket.
Easy bucket. Easy for him to say. If I recall correctly, in the last game, when we were on opposing teams, he set a pick so well it flattened me completely while I was “cutting to the basket.” I mean literally, I was laid out on my back. As comical as it was (though fortunately not painful), it was a lesson hard to dismiss. Cutting to the basket is for serious players, people not afraid of getting hurt or embarrassed. I’m not sure I was either one of those things. But I want to be, and the fact that my teammate assumed I could be, well, that was a nice boost of confidence.
My daughters have a similar dynamic going on with volleyball right now. Both are undersized (like their dad). But they’re also punching above their weight because of hustle and quickness.
Olivia is a starter on the varsity girls volleyball team, as a freshman, in a sport she only picked up a year ago. Most of the other starters have played competitively, including travel league, for years. What she lacks in size and sheer talent, she makes up for in hustle. Her effort hasn’t gone unnoticed, though it has also invited more scrutiny when her consistency slips. Early in the season, the coach (who doesn’t sugarcoat things) approached her and asked, “Are you able to take difficult feedback?” He’d gotten word that maybe he was coming down too hard on her, and he wanted to make sure she was okay. She assured him she could take it.
This experience is teaching her some serious resilience, and I love it.
London is learning resilience as well in her first year on the middle school volleyball team. She’s got a few headwinds though, including she’s one of the younger players since she skipped a grade. Like her sister, she’s new to the sport. Unlike her older sister though, she’s probably a natural athlete and she picks up most sports relatively easily. I joke that these two are the Venus and Serena of our household and it’s only a matter of time before friendly competition pushes each of them to their next level of greatness.
At this week’s game London served overhand for the first time during the game. Of her two overhand serving attempts, she made one over the net. But what impressed me most was her confidence. She missed the first one, and when her time to serve came up again, she looked to her coach (the same coach for both teams) on the sideline and he gave her the green light to try the overhand serve again. This time she nailed it!
I was so proud of her. And, I’m just thankful that team sports has been such a good vehicle for teaching life lessons for each of us.
Last night over dinner we talked about what it means when your coach sees potential in you enough to expect a higher level of excellence. It reminds me of that scene in Love and Basketball when Monica says to the coach, it’s just that, you’re always riding me, as if to question whether the coach even likes her. Coach Davis replies, “You think I’d go hoarse for a player with no potential? When I ignore you… then you worry.”
Nobody is ignoring us right now.
SDW3
everyday fatherhood 