COMPLICATED SIMPLENESS

Basketball 


Well, I started playing this sport called basketball in first grade. My dad had a rule in the house that went something like this...."If you start something you have to play it for at least two years before you decide to quit." And so it was. I played my first year and wanted to quit, but I had to play one more year. I am glad I did because that second year is when I fell in love with the game. I have been playing ever since...from all star teams to AAU teams to all-state player to college. My basketball career ended after my first year of college when I met this beautiful girl and we were married. Here name is Julie. Now we have two awesome sons - JC and Colby.

......And as fate or God or destiny would have it, I am now coaching my two sons at the local YMCA. It is a blast. My oldest son is 8 and my youngest is 6. I am coaching 7 and 8 year old kids. (They let Colby play because I was coaching) We are officially team #5, but unofficially we are THE HEAT.

This experience for me has been a stretch to say the least. It is hard to coach basketball when your team doesn't "really" know the difference between offense and defense and what it means to transition. We are starting slow. We are learning where things are on the court, how to pass, how to do a layup, where to stand, when to move to the other end of the court, how to dribble, how to shoot, how to play defense and an array of other activities including keeping them focused during our stretch time. Also we are working on keeping them focused. Did I mention we are learning to stay focused?

Anyway, sometimes it is necessary to go back to the basics to truly appreciate the more complicated things in life. Sometimes it is necessary to let go of the complicated to appreciate the simple. Thank you HEAT for teaching me this lesson!