In the midst of the end of the soccer, football, and tennis seasons…..tryouts for basketball have come and gone.
Matthew: I had, for both boys, some serious doubts about their ability to make the A teams at each age group. Most of this doubt had everything to do with the number of times each boy has touched a basketball since the end of last season……zero. 43 kids at this tryout….
Frac has an abundance of natural athleticism on his side though….and put most of my fears to rest when he went out in one drill (shooting jumpers from the left side) and buried 4 out of 5 shots. After the initial drills he was sorted into the upper group and did well in the 1v1 drills and scrimmages…..and was placed on the A team by the evaluators at the end of the session.
Being a good Dad, I told Matthew when I got home how he did, and told him once, twice….you can’t say anything. Told him the next morning….you can’t say ANYTHING. So, the phone call from another Mom that night, saying that Matthew told his friend who told her, was unpleasant. So was the talk I had with Matthew after that…….
Cpher: This boy has never done well at tryouts; ranked dead last by the evaluators in 4th grade and barely making the A team last year. This boy has an abundance of natural height though, and here, more than any other sport, that makes a difference. Both in 4th grade and 5th grade, Fric is usually the starting center and a big part of the team. 46(!) kids at this tryout.
I didn’t see a lot of Fric in the drills….but saw that he got sorted into the second group of about 15 kids and that two other big kids are ahead of him in the ‘best’ group. Saw him play 1v1 against the other kids in his group and that’s certainly what made this tryout for the big guy. He goes up against 1 kid, at least 6 inches smaller than him, gets the rebound after playing defense on the first shot and then backs the guy down into the paint, turns around, takes 2 or 3 shots, gets all the rebounds, and finally makes the basket to win that encounter.
Cpher does this same process (rebound, shots, rebounds, scores) about four more times, dispatching kid after kid back to the line. Moved up to the best group shortly thereafter. Does ok in the scrimmage…think he played ok, not great. Did what he had to do…..and this time made the A team. Cleanly. They had eight players labeled as core ‘A’….and he was one of them. Took two more kids to make the A team for a total of 10. I will again help coach this team……
Whew!
