The biggest four children are playing Upward Basketball at a nearby church on Saturday mornings. It’s been a long time since our family has enjoyed team sports. There is something wonderful about being part of a team, and we love the fun and relaxed atmosphere Upward Basketball provides.
We only go Saturday mornings, so I don’t have afternoon practices during the week to juggle. And my four kids are on just two teams- that’s awesome! Two games for four kids!
This is Peyton’s first experience with team sports. Ballet (and her personality) have taught her all about performance. She spends more time watching the crowd watching her than paying attention to the ball. Therefore, she also spends a lot of time chasing the ball she accidentally dribbled on her toes across the court.
She spends the rest of her time jumping around with her arms up- “pick me, pick me”
Michael is thriving in the team sports atmosphere. He just loves to play! Today he scored half of the points for his team- and they won!He 
He stays close to Peyton, making sure she gets an opportunity with the ball, even though he knows she is going to end up chasing the ball rolling down the court— or he is. This boy is the best big brother ever!
Then we have the big girls. They are enjoying themselves…that’s about all I can say about that! They’ve never played basketball before, and they pretty much just run beside the boys up and down the court. Being aggressive just isn’t in their nature. If they get the ball, they throw it to the first open boy teammate they see. 
They spend a lot of time sitting on the bench asking the coach questions about the game. They surely didn’t learn anything about basketball from their Momma. I yelled “Get a goal!!!” for the first three weeks before realizing it’s a basket! And it took me almost as long to realize they scored two points per basket not just one! 
Rebekah does take blocking VERY seriously. She is not going to let her opponent get around her. She’s also not going to take the ball from anyone, but she just might block a throw.
Our last experience with co-ed sports was pretty bad. Miriam never got an opportunity to really play, her coach sat the girls out 80% of the time. If they played it was a position that didn’t matter much and saw little action. This has been a completely different experience. The boys on their team do throw to each other more, but that’s because the girls don’t get in there like they could. Anytime one of the girls is open, they don’t hesitate to throw her the ball rather than seeking out a better player. The coaches treat all the kids the same, even though there are several clearly talented kids on the teams. The emphasis on fun and skill building is obvious- Love it!! Looking forward to their tournament next week!
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