Winter Basketball

Saturday started the new season of winter basketball at the Y! Again this season, Cherie and I are coaching a lively team of 3 and 4-year-old coeds, the Alligators.

Our first opponent: the Waves. Two of our teammates from last season, Logan and Jonathan, now play for the Waves. I was really glad to see Jon back out there. He has Down Syndrome and has made significant improvement since last season! He has a lot more focus and is paying more attention to what's going on, which is awesome to see.

The Alligators had a pretty good game, too. We are still working on passing the ball to make sure everyone gets a turn to shoot. Katie scored a basket and had several defensive rebounds, bringing the ball all the way down the court afterward to either shoot or pass. She was sad that she didn't make more baskets, but I did point out how good those rebounds were in terms of helping her team. Katie is also more assertive this year and not afraid of the other kids when going after the ball. She is fast, and Jon's mom was calling her Lightning. Will the nickname stick? :) With Katie and with the rest of the Alligators, my goal is to improve their dribbling skills this year. The referees are extremely lenient for this age group, but not so much when they move up to the 5 and 6-year-old league. If I can help them improve their skills for next year, I will be happy.