What a lot of fun it is to watch 7 year old Cameron and the other pint-sized players play basketball. The rims are lowered, the game is half court and the referees also help to coach the players and offer them words of encouragement.
Cameron is on the Thunder, as is his best friend Valentin, a team well coached by Valentin's dad Juan and assistant coached by Anne's and my son Clayton. In this game, Cameron arrived late with his family because he was involved in some type of soap box derby competition in building a tiny car about six inches long.
Cameron and Clayton (yes, parents are supposed to help) made a strong showing, finishing second.
In the basketball game, Cameron did well, getting a rebound, tying up the ball causing a jump ball and shooting the ball three times, almost scoring once. He runs and dribbles very fast but as happened when he missed a shot, Cameron gets down on himself, even though almost every shot thrown up by both teams is missed and mistakes by the players happen regularly.
But Cameron blames himself if his play isn't perfect feeling that he is hurting his team and that some unknown people are silently blaming him. It's our job to pick up his spirits and we do. As Clayton always points out, "We win or lose as a team," and there are plenty of hugs and words of encouragement for Cameron.
To me, one of the funniest moments of the game came as Valentin's four year old cute little brother Vincent joined a team huddle to discuss strategy. Clearly this tiny guy was ready to play as he leaned against his brother listening to their father, the coach.
Dick
No comments:
Post a Comment