While there’s some sort of basketball tournament underway this month (I’m doing my best this year to completely avoid it myself, which is a first for me and quite challenging!), time has already expired on T’s basketball season.

This was our third free youth sports season in a row with Long Beach Parks and Rec, and it was another few weeks at the park well-spent. I don’t know if it’s the free-ness of it all (OK, not entirely free as we do pay $10 toward the end-of-season banquet and trophies-certificates for all involved, but compared to $250+ for Little League in these here parts $10 looks free to me!), the fact that it’s a fun way for T to get exposed to a new sport without a crazy amount of commitment (financial, time, or otherwise), or that we’ve really started to make some nice new friends since joining this community, but the youth sports program has been a slam-dunk of a choice for not just T but all of us.

Our practices this winter were held outside on weekday evenings, which was a bit different. I was concerned about the kids being able to see anything going on at dusk and in the semi-dark for a large portion of the season and about me being able to follow along at all or see T play. However, T resolved that small challenge by wearing the brightest shirt he owns. I don’t think anyone could ever say they didn’t see T on the court during practice!

The games were held once-weekly on Saturdays at a local middle school gymnasium. It was nice to be able to play games indoors, especially since one never knows what the winter weather will bring… though rain would have only interfered once the entire season had we played outside. You gotta love Southern California and how cute we are about making provisions for those winter inconveniences.

Speaking of provisions, and in true C form, look what he set up for T in the backyard at the start of the basketball season? Yep, very much like he did during the T-ball and football seasons, C goes all-in to make sure that T has a way to keep practicing at home if he wants to. Thanks, Dad!

I don’t think that basketball was T’s favorite so far in the youth sports series (he was pretty frustrated that he never got a shot in during a game, and I admit that was a big bummer, too), but he did have a great time and looked forward to playing each week. He also absolutely learned something new along the way as did I, which is also what this league is all about. Fast-break, traveling, and staying in the key now actually mean something to all of us. Basketball mission accomplished.

Hmm, maybe we should be watching that crazy hoops tournament this month after all? Nah… and why? Next up: Indoor Soccer. Stay tuned!