Upward Basketball 2018 - Week #1

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~ 

All (3) kids are participating in Upward Basketball this year.  I am coaching Sarah and Phoebe.  I enjoy coaching Upward.  Not only do I get to teach them basketball, I also get to tell them about Jesus.  Some of the girls on my teams don't know Jesus.  I hope they do by the end of the year.  That would be the most rewarding thing that could happen this year.

Silas - Game #1 - 8:30

Silas plays at 8:30.  Phoebe played at 9:30 so I had to leave at halftime for pre-game warmup and pep talks.

Each coach and kid is introduced individually.  Below, Silas's team and his coaches.

Silas is #4.  His team is the Pacers.

Silas' group is (Pre-K).  None of the kids know the rules or how the game is to be played so the game was a little slow.  Silas by far was the best dribbler and had 16 points.  He was aggressive at getting loose balls and rebounding.

He also played good defense.

Impressive start Silas!

Phoebe - Game #1 - 9:30

There are only (3) teams in Phoebe's 1st-3rd grade league so one team has to play (2) games each week.  This week was our week.

Our team is the 76ers.

As part of Upward, we teach different virtues.  The current virtue is Courage.  As part of my pre-game pep talk, I explained that having courage does not mean that you are not afraid.  It means that you face that fear and do the right thing.  The girls needed to face their fear and go and play their best.  To play for Jesus.  Despite my pep talk, the girls were nervous and they were apprehensive the first half.

#2 for the green team is a foot taller than any girl we have and got numerous rebounds and put backs.  Phoebe and Gabby played defense on her throughout the game.

We were down by 20 at half but we outscored the other team the second half.  The final score was 48-30.  Phoebe had 6 points.   I had talked with Phoebe about stepping up to be a leader for her team today, and she sure did.  Way to play tough and smart Phoebe!

Phoebe - Game #2 - 10:30

I was thrilled with how well Phoebe played that first game.  She was aggressive, decisive, and was great at dribbling and driving to the basket.  Truthfully, I couldn't believe that she could play that well.  Her great play continued into the second game.

You can see Phoebe is wearing a red arm band.  The red arm band goes to the best player on your team that is on the court.

See the untied shoe?

Again, Phoebe played some tough defense on an aggressive girl.

I told the girls to put your hands up in front of the shooters face.  Phoebe did this perfectly.

Remember the untied shoe? Daddy to the rescue.

In this picture Phoebe has an orange band on.  This goes to the second best player on your team that is on the court.

Phoebe played another tough game.  She was knocked down a few times and got some bruises.  The game ended in a tie at 24-24.  Phoebe had 8 points.

Sarah - Game #1 - 1:30

We had a few hours after Phoebe's game before we needed to be back for Sarah's.  We went home to eat lunch and watch the end of the KSU-KU game.  KSU lost last second.

Sarah is #23 this year.  I gave the same pep talk to the 4-6th grade girls, Team Sky.  Sarah was nervous and started out the game apprehensive.

Sarah had the red band and was playing a tall, athletic girl.  She played ok on defense.

Sarah was our main point guard.

Above, Coach Ro and I addressing the team.  We were not happy with our level of play.  We started out slow and were down 12-9 at half.

Sarah's friend Brooke is on the team we played against.  She is a good player.  Next week we will play a team that has Savannah and Hannah, two of Sarah's best friends.

Our girls were winded.  You can see Sarah's red face.  Like Phoebe's league, we have (3) 4-6th grade teams.  That means that one team has to play (2) games back to back.  I hope we are prepared for when our turn comes to play two in a row.

Sarah ended up coming on strong.  She was smooth on the dribble, had some nice drives with layups, and had a clutch basket late in the game to put us up 3 points.  We ended up winning 29-26.  Sarah had 10 points and every girl on our team had at least one basket.  This team that we played had to play the next game.  They won that game by 2 points, so I think we will have (3) competitive teams this year.