The Basketball Super Bowl
The Super Bowl was last weekend, but to my family, the real "Super Bowl" was this weekend. It was the championship basketball game between the 12 (and under) girls of Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC) and their biggest rival, Rock Springs Baptist Church (RSBC) Team B, known only in my mind as "The Battle Between the Calvinists and Armenians".
The rivalry began 5 years ago when CPC formed their first basketball teams for girls. A basketball-loving deacon and his brother-in-law bravely took on the task of coaching the 8 year old (and under) girls' team. Coach D (for short) and Coach M (also for short) were welcomed by 4, wide-eyed 8 year old girls who knew absolutely nothing about basketball. They practiced faithfully each week, and Coaches D and M did their best to teach the girls the basics of the sport.
My family got involved when one of the wide-eyed little 8 year old girls called our daughter and begged her to play basketball with them. I had stubbornly refused to allow our daughter to play because I didn't want to drive 19 miles out to the church and back for another two nights a week. What made me change my mind that night? I have no idea. Maybe I thought it wouldn't last. It lasted--for five more years.
I showed up that night with our daughter. She was given a team shirt and hurried out onto the court. The "deer in the headlights look" said it all, but she was hooked. For the rest of the season, we took her to basketball practices and games. Every game her team played, they lost. In fact, they didn't win a game the next season either.
By the third season, the girls had graduated to the 10 and under team and were beginning to look like they knew a little bit about basketball. That year, they even made it to the tournament before being completely shut out by, you guessed it, RSBC. One trait seemed to characterize this rowdy team of girls, "brutality". As Coaches D and M were patiently teaching the CPC girls to play basketball fairly, honestly and correctly, the coach of this particular RSBC team was teaching his girls to trip, elbow, grab, push and shove their way to basketball victory, and it worked. It worked, that is, until this season.
In November of 2006, a fine group gathered at the CPC gymnasium. A mixture of public, private and home schooled girls, the team brought with them skills they had been developing together, most of them, for 4 or 5 years. They had played, laughed, cried, and run lots of suicides over the years, and they were ready to play basketball. By now, they knew each other's quirks, strengths and weaknesses, and they had become a real team. They headed into the season with anticipation.
One by one, they ticked of the victories, but the most frightening and difficult games were with RSBC Team B. The reputation for bloodshed and tears on the basketball court had preceded them, and the CPC girls faced a real giant. During the season, they faced RSBC 2 times and won solid victories. CPC went into the championship tournament undefeated and RSBC, who had never lost a tournament (or game before this season), was out for blood.
As predicted, CPC and RSBC Team B were in the championship final game. It was a nail-biter for the parents. At the half, CPC was down by 6 points, and RSBC Team B was getting cocky. Three minutes before the end of the game, the score was: CPC,13, RSBC, 12. The game turned into one of fouls. The clock stopped about every 10 seconds as one girl fouled another. When the buzzer sounded, the score was 13-13. The game went into 5 minutes over time, and RSBC Team B began to fall apart. With a beautiful lay-up by one of the team's star players, the game ended CPC-17, RSBC-14. The crowd lost it, and the parents breathed a sigh of relief. This was the CPC girls' last season together.
As I've compared the coaching styles of Coaches D and M to that of their rival, I've thought how their approach to basketball affected the outcome of this season. For the last five years, Coaches D and M have been quietly teaching their girls to play basketball. Winning was important, but playing their best, playing correctly and playing fairly were just as important. When the girls did well, they were rewarded with praise; when they failed, they were corrected and encouraged to try again. The CPC girls walked off the basketball court knowing how to play basketball, and they learned that hard, honest work eventually pays off. Any one of them will be welcomed on another basketball team.
The RSBC girls team won their victories by pushing, shoving, elbowing, and distracting their opponents. While this strategy worked well for awhile, it will not serve them well down the road. The few girls on that team who do play well joined the team already knowing how to play well. The others were chosen for the ability to play rough.
So it was with a deep sense of joy and satisfaction that I cheered the CPC team on today. Even if they had lost, they and their coaches are winners in my book. They didn't take the easy way out, and they are the better for it.
The rivalry began 5 years ago when CPC formed their first basketball teams for girls. A basketball-loving deacon and his brother-in-law bravely took on the task of coaching the 8 year old (and under) girls' team. Coach D (for short) and Coach M (also for short) were welcomed by 4, wide-eyed 8 year old girls who knew absolutely nothing about basketball. They practiced faithfully each week, and Coaches D and M did their best to teach the girls the basics of the sport.
My family got involved when one of the wide-eyed little 8 year old girls called our daughter and begged her to play basketball with them. I had stubbornly refused to allow our daughter to play because I didn't want to drive 19 miles out to the church and back for another two nights a week. What made me change my mind that night? I have no idea. Maybe I thought it wouldn't last. It lasted--for five more years.
I showed up that night with our daughter. She was given a team shirt and hurried out onto the court. The "deer in the headlights look" said it all, but she was hooked. For the rest of the season, we took her to basketball practices and games. Every game her team played, they lost. In fact, they didn't win a game the next season either.
By the third season, the girls had graduated to the 10 and under team and were beginning to look like they knew a little bit about basketball. That year, they even made it to the tournament before being completely shut out by, you guessed it, RSBC. One trait seemed to characterize this rowdy team of girls, "brutality". As Coaches D and M were patiently teaching the CPC girls to play basketball fairly, honestly and correctly, the coach of this particular RSBC team was teaching his girls to trip, elbow, grab, push and shove their way to basketball victory, and it worked. It worked, that is, until this season.
In November of 2006, a fine group gathered at the CPC gymnasium. A mixture of public, private and home schooled girls, the team brought with them skills they had been developing together, most of them, for 4 or 5 years. They had played, laughed, cried, and run lots of suicides over the years, and they were ready to play basketball. By now, they knew each other's quirks, strengths and weaknesses, and they had become a real team. They headed into the season with anticipation.
One by one, they ticked of the victories, but the most frightening and difficult games were with RSBC Team B. The reputation for bloodshed and tears on the basketball court had preceded them, and the CPC girls faced a real giant. During the season, they faced RSBC 2 times and won solid victories. CPC went into the championship tournament undefeated and RSBC, who had never lost a tournament (or game before this season), was out for blood.
As predicted, CPC and RSBC Team B were in the championship final game. It was a nail-biter for the parents. At the half, CPC was down by 6 points, and RSBC Team B was getting cocky. Three minutes before the end of the game, the score was: CPC,13, RSBC, 12. The game turned into one of fouls. The clock stopped about every 10 seconds as one girl fouled another. When the buzzer sounded, the score was 13-13. The game went into 5 minutes over time, and RSBC Team B began to fall apart. With a beautiful lay-up by one of the team's star players, the game ended CPC-17, RSBC-14. The crowd lost it, and the parents breathed a sigh of relief. This was the CPC girls' last season together.
As I've compared the coaching styles of Coaches D and M to that of their rival, I've thought how their approach to basketball affected the outcome of this season. For the last five years, Coaches D and M have been quietly teaching their girls to play basketball. Winning was important, but playing their best, playing correctly and playing fairly were just as important. When the girls did well, they were rewarded with praise; when they failed, they were corrected and encouraged to try again. The CPC girls walked off the basketball court knowing how to play basketball, and they learned that hard, honest work eventually pays off. Any one of them will be welcomed on another basketball team.
The RSBC girls team won their victories by pushing, shoving, elbowing, and distracting their opponents. While this strategy worked well for awhile, it will not serve them well down the road. The few girls on that team who do play well joined the team already knowing how to play well. The others were chosen for the ability to play rough.
So it was with a deep sense of joy and satisfaction that I cheered the CPC team on today. Even if they had lost, they and their coaches are winners in my book. They didn't take the easy way out, and they are the better for it.
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