My Baller

I am beyond backlogged on preserving family memories.  It comes to my attention that I have put a lot of pressure on myself to be the dream catcher for the entire family.  Like…the reality that I am not keeping up with capturing the memories in my mind…much less getting the images in my camera or into a story…makes me crazy.  My camera actually had to be dusted off the other day.  And the real proof came when I logged into the blog just now and I had to enter my password because it had been too long since last time.

So…the next few posts will be catch up.  Because Lawd knows I won’t be able to sleep at night if I don’t play memory catch up.

First of all…

We kept under wraps that Colt was trying out for the Intense Basketball Academy’s AAU 7th grade boy’s team.  This was a big deal.  This is select basketball.  This is where the big dogs play.  I took him to the tryout while Chad coached Colt’s YMCA team’s last game.  His siblings and I quietly sat in the bleachers and watched the returning, skilled players run through tough drills while the clearly, qualified coaches watched their execution with unforgiving eyes.  If they failed to make the corrections the coaches gave…you knew they were not happy through a stomped foot that echoed throughout the gym or a yelled NO with a clap in front of their faces.  Colt has never been coached by anyone other that Chad…and it was a bit of a shock.  As I watched…I saw my son nod, work harder, and make corrections in a way I hadn’t really seen before.  I saw him put everything he had onto that court.  And I had no idea if it would be enough this time.

Last November…his heart was broken when the school coach cut him after making it all the way to the end of tryouts.  He told him that, although fundamentally he was better than a lot of the boys who had made it…he just wasn’t big enough or defensively aggressive enough to handle the kids on the teams they would be playing who had already “come into their size.”  Chad and I sat behind him in that meeting with the coach…listening to him tell Colt that he was right on the bubble.  And that was tough.  It was tough to know he was that close.  It was also tough to see him hurting.  He had those normal thoughts that we all have when we are told we aren’t good enough…to quit.  Just quit so we don’t have to feel that rejection again.  We let him wrestle with those feelings for half the day…and then we had our come to Jesus meeting.  And that afternoon…he signed up to play for the Y.  It wasn’t easy to do.  He didn’t want to play for the YMCA again when his dream was to wear his school’s uniform.  But he put everything he had into doing everything that coach told him in that meeting.  He became a different kind of player.  He went from making plays to being a play maker.   While the boys on the school team scrimmaged during practice…he spent evenings alone on the driveway shooting.  While they were celebrated by cheerleaders and fans…he used trash cans as defenders.  While they were noticed…he kept his head down with a quiet determination.  And I saw glimpses of what makes a great athlete.  He learned that it’s not just about talent…but determination and work and never giving up.  He didn’t take no for an answer…and that made me more proud than if I had been watching him from the stands at the Jr. High game.  I’m not saying that he doesn’t still have a lot of growing and developing to do…but for this season…he did everything he could.

So…at the end of the select tryout almost 2 weeks ago…the coaches said, “Thanks.  we will be in touch.”

And we waited.

We waited for a week…hearing nothing.

And then it came.

My phone dinged with a text.  And this is how it started…

“Congratulations.  Your son has made our IBA Baller 7th grade boy’s team.”

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So…I tell that story.  That beautiful story of disappointment and perseverance.  Because…don’t we all need to hear those stories from time to time?

And…well…this one happened to my son.