Basketball

Small, but mighty! Grace still amazes me with her spunk and coordination. She is playing on the youth basketball league on Saturdays and even tried out for the 5th grade travel team. She missed the first game to go to her cousin Andy's wedding, and her team struggled to score. Then Grace scored 10 points at the next game before the other team realized that they should put one of their best, taller players on the tiny, little girl who was dominating the court. She is really quick, dribbles well with both hands, and is not afraid to take on anyone. She and one other girl on her team both want to dribble the length of the floor and shoot, so sometimes they stand there looking at each other after a basket, hoping the other will step out-of-bounds and throw in the ball. Teamwork is somewhat lacking and passing is only used as a last resort, when you have dribbled yourself into a corner.

Today, Grace only scored 2 points, got 4 fouls for pushing, and was almost in tears by the end of the game. She is used to dribbling around all of the girls, but the other coaches have figured her out. She usually dribbles to the left, rarely protects the ball, and is easily blocked from shooting by most anyone since she is so small. Despite all of this, she just loves the game. Probably the highlight of the season was having Daddy fill in as the coach at the last 2 games. She was so excited and proud to have him as her coach. She really loves her daddy! And he has loved being out there coaching her team.