This afternoon Jamie had his first workout / practice with the Junior Vees basketball program. He was a little tentative at first, but by the end of the session, he was giving me the "thumbs up" sign. For Jamie, that's like jumping up and down and yelling!
I found the advertisement for this program sitting on a display table in the mall this summer. I read the information, talked to Jamie about it, and called the phone number in the reading material. The woman I spoke to ensured me that the emphasis of the program was skills of the game including dribbling, passing, shooting, and play-making. The boys are divided by age group, and Jamie would be playing with other grade 8's and some grade 9's and perhaps, Grades 10's. I was most worried that the kids would have a lot more experience with organized basketball than Jamie - I was assured that he would fit in. Jamie and I talked - he decided to give it a try.
The first session started on October 1st. It was a disaster! I was given the incorrect time - we were late. When we approached the registration table, the first thing we were asked was - "Did you bring your own basketball?" We had no idea we had to bring anything. I didn't find this out till after we had filled in all the forms, written the cheque, and sat in the gym watching everyone else playing for about 15 minutes. Then Jamie and I finally looked at each other and said, "Those guys are good! They look like they're in Grades 8 & 9. Isn't that the group you're supposed to be in??" Sure enough - it was. It was too late for him to join that day. Then, we met the coach - he asked about Jamie's shoes - apparently, he has to buy "basketball" shoes - they're only about $70.00 (for the cheap ones). By the time we left the gym that day, both Jamie and I were discouraged - planning on never coming back again!
We spent two weeks thinking about it - in the end, I convinced Jamie to give it another try. That was today! AND TODAY - WHAT A DIFFERENT STORY !
To make sure that we wouldn't arrive at the wrong time, we showed up about 20 minutes early - new Nike basketball shoes, new Reebok basketball, gym clothes, and water bottle - ready to play. We introduced ourselves, and the woman in charge today listened to our sad, frustrating story about our first day, and introduced Jamie to two of the junior coaches. Jamie spent about 10 minutes of one-on-one practice going over some of the skills that the rest of the guys had been working on for the last two weeks! Yeah!
When the official practice started, there were about 30 guys! Some of them definitely had been playing basketball a lot and knew what they were doing. There were also some (like Jamie) who loved the game, but had never had the opportunity to learn and practice. There were a couple of boys who were shorter than Jamie, but there were many who were taller - one of the kids had to be at least 6' 4" and looked like he couldn't be more than 15 years old. His lay-up was more like a roll-in since his hand was level with the rim when he jumped.
The guys did ball control drills for at least 20 minutes! Then they switched to some cardio-vascular exercises, and for another 20 minutes, the coach split them in to two groups to practice shooting drills. The last 20 minutes - they did this cool three-on-two-on-three drill. I wish I could explain it to you, but it took me five minutes of watching to figure out how it worked. Suffice if to say, it was like a mini-game where the guys were on and off the court quickly - in minutes. Wow! No wonder the guys love the sessions!
The final result - Jamie wants to go back next week! He had fun and learned a whole lot too! At the end of the practice, the coach complimented Jamie on his style and his effort. Let me tell you - Mommy is happy too!
