Monday, March 26

There's losing and then there's losing

As a child I was always a bit disappointed by the fact I never got to play up a level.  I wanted to and I thought that I was able to.  There were girls on my team that did it and I was just as good a player as them so I thought I could play on more than one team as well.  Sadly for me my parents thought otherwise.  Taking me to play one game a week was more than enough, they felt no need for me to play another.

Naturally when the basketball club asked Miss Nearly Eleven if she was interested in playing up a grade I said of course!  This week however saw me question whether I was right in my decision.

After losing a hard fought game against a team who was slightly larger, both in size and quantity of players, Miss Nearly Eleven and three of her team mates quickly splashed cold water on their hot red faces as they refilled their empty water bottles.  They then returned to the court for their next game.

Only to discover that this week they were it.  There were no reserves, and in fact they were a player down.  Their opposition who were a great deal taller had five players and the same again in reserves.  It was a slaughtering.  That in the second half took a turn for the worse.

image from here
Just after the start of the third quarter one of my daughter's team mates fell and hurt her ankle.  This left three under twelve players facing five of the biggest under fourteen kids I have ever seen.  Mercy rules came into play and it really was more like a training session than anything else.  To the credit of those three girls though when they saw an opportunity they took it and never gave up.

The levels of determination, guts and stamina that were displayed out there were amazing.  It was a pure mummy proud moment.  Watching her to continue to fight despite her exhaustion and knowing they still couldn't win made my heart swell.

I have mentioned previously how at times  my daughter's basketball team has been quite convincingly defeated over the years.  There have also been just as many times when they have been the winners.  Unfortunately though it appears as if this season is not going to be one of those times.  Which I am fine about.

What I am not fine about though is her getting annihilated every week in an age group one up from hers because there aren't enough players to field a full team.  You see when the club asked if she could play the extra game I agreed but only if she was a back up player rather than being a main player.  I certainly didn't expect for her to play an entire game on a team short on players.

When I checked with Miss Nearly Eleven how she felt about it all she said that losing didn't bother her as at least she was given the chance to play.  When I asked how playing against girls who were clearly much bigger than her she said that didn't matter.  She figured that it would only help to make her a better player.  Talk about more proud mummy moments.

2 comments:

  1. Oh she is a tough little thing isn't she? Good on her for not giving up, and good on you for giving her the opportunity.

    Oh and it appears my reader likes you again which is nice :)

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    Replies
    1. Oh yay on the reader liking me again!

      And yep she sure is tough bless her.

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