So close. Yet so far away.

With only three minutes left in the game, Sarah's team was only down by 2 points.

They might actually be able to win, I thought to myself.  And it was right at that time that the other team finally found their stride and started to pull away.

The Pink Panthers lost in the end, but as Sarah's coach said on her Facebook page, "I'll take good attitudes, good sportsmanship and fun over a win any day."  I think that says it all.

Sarah's still deciding if she'll play basketball next year or whether she will cheer, but I think she'll choose basketball.  As much as she likes cartwheels,  I think she knows where the real action is. 

She dribbles. She shoots. Luckily, she misses.

The little girl dribbled the ball. She took a shot.  It bounced off the rim.

Sarah was right underneath the basket and grabbed the rebound.  Sarah took a shot.  It bounced off the rim.

Thank goodness it didn't go in because Sarah was playing defense.

Oh, sweet Sarah. 

After weeks of telling her she needed to be more aggressive and go after the ball, she finally did it.  In her excitement, she forgot she was on defense and should have held the ball and passed it off to the point guard.

She was annoyed when I tried to talk to her about it after the game, but on Sunday afternoon Dan and I worked with her.  We practiced getting the rebound and holding it.  Hopefully that will help her in the next game.

I took a ton of pictures from Saturday's game.  In almost every picture, you can see swarms of girls from both teams going after the ball, trying to get their hands on it, trying to be a part of the game.  And in almost every picture, Sarah is in the background watching the activity - doing everything in her power to keep from touching that ball.

I can't decide if it's disinterest in the game or if she is just nervous because she's afraid if she actually gets the ball she won't know what to do with it. 

I guess all we can do is continue to work with her and hope with more practice she understands better what she's supposed to do.

What's everyone doing over there??

Is mom still taking pictures?

She loves to run up and down the court.

Her sweet coaches giving her a five and a good job for trying to take a shot!

On a positive note - she did score a point during her half time shot! And it counts so she did contribute to the final score!

Pink Panthers.

Sarah had her first basketball game of the season on Saturday.  This is her third year playing but the first year that she gets to be on an all girl team.

She still doesn't really understand the difference between offense and defense or what exactly she should be doing when she's on the court, but I have high hopes for her this season.  Her coaches are really great this year and since she is on a team with all girls her chances of actually getting to touch a ball during the game have increased dramatically. (Little boys are ball hogs and do not like to pass to little girls even when their coach is yelling at them to pass it.  At least that has been our experience.)

Here is a picture of her before the game.

Who loves herself and thinks she should be a model?

Sarah's team, the Pink Panthers, got creamed on Saturday.  The final score was 29 to 9.  The other girls were giants.  Sarah is a fairly good sized 2nd grader and these girls were towering over her.  (The teams are made of 2nd and 3rd graders so the other team could have been all 3rd graders but even so, they were taller than Peter who is a tall 3rd grader.)

But enough excuses.  The other team was just plain better.  But that's okay because the way I see it, there's only one way to go from here!

And on a positive note, a teammate did pass Sarah the ball and she actually took a shot.  It did not go in but it hit the rim.  I was so excited you would have thought she nailed a three-pointer. 

I'm looking forward to the next game, which thanks to a bye next week and the holidays, isn't until January.  Hopefully by then I will be able to figure out how to take decent action shots!

Do you see my normal sized 2nd grader surrounded by all of those giants? Ringers!

She got the idea from her older friend Caity.

She got the idea from her older friend Caity.  She wanted to play basketball.

She was only four but Caity,seven, was doing it so Sarah knew that would be her sport too.

Her mom and dad thought it was a great idea so for her fifth birthday she got a pink basketball and a goal.

She tossed the ball around occasionally but her brother and his friends showed more interest in the hoop than she did - until this fall when basketball season rolled around and Caity signed up again.  She decided she was definitely going to play ball.

So her mom held her breath, wrote the check to the athletic booster club and filled out the forms.

It was official.  She was going to be a basketball player.

Her mom was excited until she realized that the kindergarten and first grade teams were made up of girls and boys.

But Sarah didn't care.  At practice she dribbled, ran laps, and shot baskets.  She kept up the boys and wore pink while doing it.

And then the day of the first game came. Sarah said she was nervous.  Her mom told her it was o.k. to be nervous.  After all, she had never done this before.

It was time for the jump ball.  Her mom gulped because she didn't remember seeing them practice this before.

The ball headed straight for Sarah.  The ball hit Sarah in the head.  Sarah rubbed the sore spot, her mom clutched her chest and held her breath and then Sarah took off down the court.

Just as in practice, she dribbled the ball down the court every time her team was on offense.

She stood with her arms up and never moved out of her assigned spot every time her team was on defense.  Her mom and dad chuckled..  There would be a few things they would need to review after the game.

She scored one free throw shot at the beginning of the game.

Her team won. She was happy.  Yep.  Looks like this girl is going to be a basketball player.