the girl who loves basketball

About thirteen years ago this little girl picked up a basketball and ran wildly out on to the court.

And she has been playing ever since.

In those early days of Pee Wee Basketball she always had a huge smile on her face while she would dribble, pass and try to shoot towards the hoop. And her coaches noticed. They would say, “I love coaching Rachel, she always has so much fun.” Through Pee Wee, Rec Ball, AAU, Middle School and finally High School ball, she always knew how to put the F.U.N. in basketball. Those early days, when she would manage to toss it up and make a basket, she would throw up her arms and smile and laugh while heading back down the court. Oh, and then there was something called a “three” that she learned how to do quite well. She started popping those here and there and decided, “hey, that’s pretty fun!”

Playing a sport for that many years, of course, took a lot of the obvious things. Determination, dedication, desire, practice and more practice. We all know that kids learn to work together as a team, have some big triumphs and some major disappointments when playing a sport. They learn how to balance their schoolwork while keeping up with practices, games and missed classes because of away games. She worked hard because she wanted to play. She made the JV team her freshmen year and was determined to have a great season. She did. And then, being faced with one of her biggest challenges, she took a family move to a new school in a new state, in the middle of her junior year, with determination and dedication. The dedication to what she knew how to do and determination that she could do it brought her success. She made the team in her new school, mid season, and…smiled. And she played with one more thing that she perfected a long time ago. Heart. The girl knows how to put her heart into everything. And it is contagious.

They were a team that at the beginning of the season didn’t look real strong. They were written off as “being in a growth year” and weren’t expected to do very well. But, when you have all the things I said before; determination, dedication, desire and a girl with a big heart and a big smile on your side, well... good things can happen. They played as a team and before each game would chant… “together”. They pulled through and earned the Regional Championship title, which gave them a spot in the State playoffs. Hoorah!

Last night they played the first game in the playoffs. They played with a lot of heart. Our girl played through some disappointment, as she has played the last two weeks with a dislocated bone in her wrist. She played hard and yep, last night, even managed to squeak in a couple of those threes that she loves. She still had a smile on her face, although I think this mom saw it crack a bit in the final minutes, when I could see in her eyes, the realization that this would be her last time on a high school court. Their run ended there, but they played as a team, surprising many people who didn’t think this team would accomplish much, but they did. And they did it…together.

We are very proud of our daughter. We have sat on many bleachers, in many gyms, over the course of all these years. And it was with a feeling of sadness that we walked away from the gym last night after that last and final buzzer.

But we did it with our hearts big and a smile on our face.