Well the Super Bowl Sunday Hang Over is Over... Things are Back to Normal - If you consider about ten inches of snow in KC today normal.
The Celtics 6th Grade boys basketball TEAM kicked off their season Saturday, November 23rd. The First Question their Friends, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents - you get my drift, ask is, "Did You WIN?"
I'll answer that burning question, but not till the very end!
I have always liked the saying - There is no "I" in "TEAM"
The Celtics have had South of a handful of practices to prepare for this opening game. They are in a lower recreation division. But Expectations for the TEAM are very high
The TEAM arrived 40 minutes early to discuss game strategy, assignments, and playing time. At this TEAM meeting Coach Stephen & Coach Sam had a few surprises for the TEAM.
A Boston Celtics Warm Up Top and Boston Celtics Game Socks. - It was like Christmas morning
Part of the Pre-Game Meeting was TEAM Expectations - We will Run, Run, Run. And then Run some more. We are going to Shoot a lot. As long as we are in position there are No Bad Shots. We expect Great Sportsmanship from the entire TEAM.
The Expectation & Experience Table was set. The ball was tossed in the air and the 2013 / 2014 Celtics Experience began.
The Coaches and Parents are all part of this Experience and the TEAM. Everyone Played their Role perfectly. There were no bad shots - from our TEAM perspective! A lot of positive encouragement, even after a few "not bad shots".
At the end of the game the Celtics TEAM got in the "Good Job Line" with the other team. As they slapped hands with the last T-Wolves player they rolled off in unison and went to center court to Fist Bump, High Five, and Thank the two Officials! It may have been just me, but I felt a little awkward as the other team went back to their bench to collect their belongings and left the Refs hanging...
Early this morning I went into my 6th grade sons room to check on him and I noticed his Celtics uniform, Warm Up Top and Socks neatly folded at the foot of his bed. This is the ONLY neat thing about his room!
Yes - WE WON!
I have no idea what the score was, but - WE WON! http://bit.ly/I8pfeK
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of shooting the Blue Diamonds Soccer Club at the OP Soccer Complex. The team is made of Fourth Grade girls from Overland Park coached by Kevin Kirchmer & James Nordstrom.
First let me set the stage – the game was held at Overland Park’s multimillion-dollar Soccer Only Complex, which hosted the US Youth Soccer National Championships a few weeks ago. In fact, Fox Sports Soccer televised the U19 Men’s National Championship Match live.
The Blue Diamonds game was at 3:00, the hottest part of the day, on what seemed to be the hottest day of the year. The temperature on the turf is even hotter.
As I took my photos in the blazing sun I thought to myself these poor girls have GOT to be miserable out here.
BUT – as I watched their smiling faces dripping with sweat, heard giggling when they swung and missed the ball, sincere apologies for hitting the opposing team, or enemy, with the ball on an errant shot, and even the Goalkeeper singing while the ball was on the other end of the field – I REALIZED – these Kids are having FUN!
How could this be?
At Half Time the coaches had the players water up and rest. But the girls seemed more interested in playing a game of Duck, Duck, Goose and chasing each other around in circles.
I begun to wonder if any of them knew the score of the game, what this game meant to their chances of winning the League Championship, the IMPACT it has on their Scholarship opportunity to a D1 University…
This past weekend made me reminiscent of the youth teams I played on. The Rustoleum Pirates with our Red and White Stripped uniforms; the Metropolitan Life Meteors with Nick Naggy who I swore would be a Pro Soccer Player; Coach Turner who always showed up late and farmed the field after one practice; and the Parents versus the Kids Game at the end of the season.
What I can’t remember is how many Games, or even Championships we won. But I do Remember it was FUN!
The FUN these 4th Grade Girls were having on this HOT day is a tribute to Coach Kirchmer and Coach Nordstrom!
Spent part of the Labor Day Weekend watching & shooting some GREAT NAIA Soccer on the campus of The University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. The Varisty Teams hosted Mount Marty College out of Yankton, SD.
Both Spires teams looked great, the Women tied 1 - 1 but created several great scoring opportunities. The Men dominated ball possession as well, winning with a final score of 5 - 1.
I hope to catch another game real soon
Good Luck this Season Spires