Youth Sports Post: Family Basketball

If it's winter outside...

It's basketball inside.

Walking out of the cold and dark into that big, warm, echoing gymnasium and hearing the squeak of shoes on the shiny floor takes me back to the glory days of all the games in all the winters of my youth. I have to confess that I wasn't good enough to be on the team then. I was a Pep Band guy. But we had teams that went to state, and I was with them all the way.

My boys, though, are athletes. Jeremiah made JV as a Freshman. He's not a starter yet, but he has his moments. Our local photographer, who takes photos of all the high school sports, was kind enough to send me this photo. (I just realized it's a family portrait. That's me taking video, and Kim beside me, up on the top row in the background. And Isaiah is on the bench.)

Isaiah's on the bench because of his ACL surgery. He's recovering well, and hopes to play soccer in the spring. For now the coaches have made him an assistant, so he gets to go to the pregame coaches' meeting, and take stats during the game. They're also teaching him about the game from a coaching perspective, something they feel will help him when he gets back out on the floor next winter.

He would much rather be playing, and I wish he could, but it still does this father's heart good to see both my sons sharing the same bench and doing their best for the team.