one of the sweetest tastes...

... is that of victory.

Especially when the victory is secured by a second attempt 5-footer off the glass as the final buzzer sounds, keeping a winning streak of now 3 games going strong. Catch the hunnies buzzer beater here.

This season was a first for everyone.  It was the first time our town offered a 5th grade travel team and it was my first time as a head coach.  My most recent on-the-court basketball exposure dates back to high school.  My freshman year we contemplated falling on the path to the gym so we might be excused from practice.  By sophomore year we realized that would not happen and we focused on two things: 1. shoving our legs up other girls butts so they couldn't box us out in an attempt to "tip" the ball back to our team and 2. beating Andover in the Christmas Tournament by scoring one basket and legit spend the rest of the game passing around the court because we were in NH and there was no 10-second back court rule or a shot clock.  Junior year we got a new coach and we spent a lot of time playing games and taking rides in limos during practice.  By senior year, we were back on the grind even though we went 3-17.  We weren't the most talented team, but I would venture to say we had the most fun and were the closest team.


I remembered how much fun we had that year, and I could only wish the same for my girls this year.  While some towns had more than fifty girls tryout for their teams, we only had ten.  I had the option to forgo the season and hope for a larger turn out next year, but how can you do that ten 10-year olds who were excited to play and willing to learn?! 




We got off to a rough start losing three straight. In our third loss we only scored 4 points. And these points were scored in the last 2 minutes of the game.  I was frustrated.  I didn't know how to get the girls motivated or excited to play.  When I was that age, all I wanted to do was get in the game and give it my all.  It seemed like we were all going through the motions--me included.  No one was smiling and the girls were not having fun. Then, we had our first win.

We had the most unbelievable confidence booster at Wilmington and won 32-10.  It was just what we needed to spark our season.  It was actually so unbelievable that my parents, boyfriend, and coworkers did not believe 1. that we won and 2. that we scored 32 points (which was just about the total number of points we scored in our first games combined.) It showed my team and me that we could do it. I think the girls finally realized that their coaches know what they are talking about when we ran drills and practiced plays. The first time we successfully ran one of our out-of-bounds plays, I swear all their chins dropped. Light dawns on marble head! Do it right and it works every time!

AH, the buzzer beater. I'll let the pictures tell you the story. (not the best quality... taken from the video!)

The shot...

The score...

Even the ref is celebrating!

AH!

Mosh pitting...

Get it girls...

Victory.

 

 

It was incredible.  AH!  Something clicked and we are on a roll. Its moments like these that make getting up at 5:00am and everyday worth it.  I don't get up that early because I am a crazy person (keep comments to yourselves)...  I get up that early because getting my work day started at ungodly hours allows me to do the things I really love like coaching the Hunnies and clowning around.  I am blessed to have a great job that is flexible and a fabulous boss that supports my personal endeavors. I might have an earlier bedtime than my hunnies and my grandma, but that's fine because I love what I do and it makes getting up long before the sun comes up that much easier (not to mention driving to work early means MUCH less traffic and that means a happier redhead).

 

 

 

Whats not to love about these homegirls?!

life is good :)