Church Basketball

Each year our Stake has a Teacher/Priest Basketball Tournament that takes place over several Saturdays. It is AWESOME!! Eyn was on the Katy 3rd Ward Priest team. (Katy 3rd had 2 different teams) I love watching them because the boys have so much fun! They play relaxed and hard. It's different than High School Ball. There is not the pressure of their coaches. I was sitting by another Mom on the last Saturday and we were talking about how our boys play with more aggression here than at school. I just think when their playing at school they have so much pressure put on them that half the time their paranoid of what the coach is going to say or do. This was just fun to watch! Eyn invited friends from school to play with them the last few weeks and they seemed to enjoy it also. Eyn and some of the other boys enjoyed staying the entire morning so they would get selected to play for teams that didn't have enough boys. They didn't seem to get tired of playing!

Panther Pride

Trent had another fun season playing basketball. I love basketball season!! I love finding all my children outside in the driveway playing basketball together! I love seeing my children having fun. I love the Adrenalin rush each game brings!

Trent may not have won many games this season, but the team worked hard and Trent had fun. We were fortunate to be get a coach that Trent liked and respected. (Thanks for a great season York!) Trent really liked having his friend Ford from church on his team. It's hard to believe that this was Trent's sixth year with KYB.

Getting ready for a free throw

Coach Richards with some of the team


Jump ball to start the game. Go Trent!!

Getting instructions from the coach

Half time Fun Dip (An Amberly and Dad tradition)

Trent and Ford after the last game

Our basketball players - Trent and Amberly

Thanks for a great season Panthers!!

Amberly and the Bears

After such a rocky beginning to her basketball career, I am happy to report that Amberly's 1st year of basketball with KYB ended happily. No, they didn't win a lot of games. (They actually lost all but one) But, I have never seen a happier group of girls playing and a happier group of parents. After our fiasco with our first coach the team and parents really rallied together and had a great time! It was actually sad to see the season end. I really enjoyed getting to know many of the parents on the team and the girls loved being together. After each basket made you would have thought that it was a game winning shot! It was definitely a learning and growing experience for all of us involved. Just last night Amberly said to me "Is it true that if you are having fun then you win?" I said, "Yes, if you are having fun and happy then you are a winner." She then said, "Then I actually won all those basketball games that we lost because I was having fun?" Yes. The score on the board doesn't always show who the actual winners are! It is how you play the game and if your having fun. You may not get the trophy at the end of the game, but if you are happy with how you did and have fun doing it you are definitely the winner in my book. Amberly getting ready to bring the ball down the court.


Some of the girls cheering on their teammates during halftime free throws

Warming up

This picture is really fuzzy, but I didn't get many with Amberly coming down the court with the ball.

Throwing the ball in

Shooting a free throw. It was amazing to see how her upper body strength developed over a few short months.

Way to go Bears!! It was a Roaring great time!!

New Coach - New Beginning

We found out late last night that Amberly's team has a new coach. The new coach is Coach Eldrod and she is actually the head 7th grade coach at Cinco Ranch Junior High and mom to one of the girls on the team. Amberly was actually excited for the change. Trent's game was at the same time as Amberly's today so I wasn't there for most of the game, but Darin said the new coach won the girls over in the first few minutes. She had them smiling and laughing way before the game started and they were just having a great time. It was like the light came on for those girls! Trent and I arrived in time to see the last quarter and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Yes, they lost by a lot, but I saw a confidence and enthusiasm in those girls I hadn't seen all season. The new coach was constantly encouraging the girls, giving them high fives, teaching them the entire time. The little girl who quit earlier in the week came back and looked like she was having a blast. As I walked in and was greeted by a few of the parents you could see the joy and relief on their faces. It truly is amazing how someone can bring such a negative energy into an entire room and how the same with the opposite can happen also. We are looking forward to an exciting remainder of the season. I am excited to see the girls at the next game after a few practices with their new coach.

Drama on the basketball court

Amberly and Trent have been enjoying playing basketball since early December. We have been involved in Katy Youth basketball since Eyn was in 1st grade. That's quite awhile. We've been blessed with some amazing coaches and teams and some not so great. This year Trent has a great coach. It's actually York from our ward. He's very positive with the boys and Trent seems to really be doing well. Well, Amberly is in her first year with KYB and she got the coach from @!#$#@! and we found out last night that he has quit the team. He sent a bitter letter to all the parents letting us all know the flaws of our children on the court and how he couldn't understand why parents have been complaining to KYB about him. Our kids have had a few bad coaches over the years but never one like this man. He let all the girls know a few weeks ago that his daughter was the teams only chance of winning. He told all the girls if they were on the court with her to get the ball to her and then on defence that his daughter was to cover whomever had the ball on the opposing team and that girl was to back away and find a different player. That's NOT the way KYB works and the result ended with confused girls on the court. He was harsh in speaking with the girls and took all fun out of it for them. One girl quit earlier this week due to the coach. Let's just say that tomorrow will definitely be an interesting day at the game. After a few emails back and forth between parents and the coach (not nice ones) I'm sure it will be a calm and happy day for the parents and the girls. Hopefully we will have someone step forward to take charge and finish the season on the positive.

District Champions!

Eyn's Basketball team won the District Championship! What a great season they had! He had to work extra hard this year to come back after breaking his elbow over the summer, but he did great and we're extremely proud of him! At the end of the last game the head coach came out and asked all the parents to remain sitting for a minute because the players had a special recognition to make. He then told us it was parent recognition night and that they wanted to show their appreciation to each of their parents for their support during such a great season. Each one of players then came out carrying orange roses (school colors are orange and blue) and letters. They presented each mother with a rose and each father with a letter they had written to them. It was very touching moment watching these young men present them to their parents and then hugging and kissing them. Eyn was attacked as he not only hugged his mom and dad but got a "hugful" from Amberly, Trent and Elizabeth. One of those "moments" that stick forever!

Eyn also just completed a 6 week teachers/priests Stake basketball tournament. He was awesome! It was so much fun to watch those boys at church play! You see a different side to them when they are on the court and don't have the pressure of their coaches. Eyn loved this tournament and I think is sad it's over except for the fact that most of their games started at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday. Gotta love it!

The "Miners"

Basketball season has started for Trent. He's on the "Miners" team. You may ask "Who are the Miners?". I looked it up and it is actually the mascot of the University of Texas at El Paso. (UTEP) Whoever they are one thing I do know is that Trent's team is doing GREAT! They have won all but one game. Trent really likes his team. All the boys on his team all go to our school. It's so much fun to watch Trent and see how much he has improved over the years. He's quite aggressive and a great defensive player. They have a hard time scoring off of him. He's also become one of their top scorers. Keep it up Trent!

Spartan Basketball

One of my favorite things to do is watch my children do well in what they love doing. For Eyn Basketball is what he loves. He loves the NBA (especially the Rockets) and he loves to be on the court. Over the years it has amazed us to watch him as he has gotten better and better at it. I can still picture him out in our driveway playing with the "big boys" in the neighborhood. Now, he is probably a good 6-8 inches taller than most of those boys and could take them all down! Every time there is a game my heart begins to race and I am so excited! I love it!

A few weeks ago we played Clements in Sugar Land where Darin took these pictures. It's sometimes hard to take pictures because we get so into the game we forget!

Eyn Going up for the shot. Taking some free throw shots after being fouled under the basket.
Going after the rebound.

Basketball at the High School level has been lots of fun. He practices usually 3-4 hours a day and has usually 2 games a week. We have been so impressed at our school with the team spirit. The players stand up and praise each other. The support and encouragement they give each other is amazing. We watch the other teams and it's just not there. I'm so thankful that Eyn is a part of such a great program!

Go Spartans!!

Eyn's Basketball Injury

Last week was quite the trying week in our home. While I was sitting in the doctors office for myself on Thursday I received one of those phone calls you just don't want to get. It was the High School Basketball coach letting me know that Eyn had hurt his elbow and it was quite swollen and probably needed to get checked out. Well, after several unsuccessful x-rays we were referred to a orthopedic specialist/surgeon. (Eyn couldn't bend his arm at all so they had a hard time getting a good x-ray) Well, Darin took him yesterday while I was in San Antonio and found out that he has fractured a bone in there and that particular bone helps control his wrist. If it does not heal correctly then he would have difficulty with it the rest of his life. So, he wants to go in and operate and put screws in it. He said that it will heal quickly and that he will be fine to do all the sports his heart desires. So.. He wanted to do surgery on Wednesday but considering I'm having surgery that day Darin didn't think he could handle two in one day at separate locations. He is scheduled for his next Monday. The doctor was very positive about the outcome. Eyn won't be able to play basketball for a while, but the doctor said that playing basketball will be what he wants him to do to get the strength back in it. Eyn is one tough kid and seeing him injured has been hard. He is one to jump back up and keep going. He actually tried to do that, but it didn't work. The coach at the high school was great and I really appreciated him and the others there who helped Eyn. He'll be back on the court before we know it.