Long before the nonstop talks of brackets and seeds, we were quietly putting a wrap on a very fun basketball season ourselves. We have lots of pictures and video of our season as a Raptor family and you'll just have to trust me when I say - we all enjoyed watching Winston play some hoops. It was the final day of the season that was the most memorable and frankly, it didn't have a thing to do with slam dunks or dribbling.
After our final game, the league handed out medals to all of the players. The league director took back the microphone and began to talk about a special award he hands out to a handful of players - one from each team to be exact. It's called the PHD award for Perseverance, Hard Work and Dedication. He went on to say that the PHD award had absolutely nothing to do with scores, wins, losses or stats in a game....but everything to do with attitude and commitment and showing skills that are valuable for living.
We were so proud when Winston's name was called and he received the PHD award for his team, chosen by his coach. That crazy little boy of mine is naturally agile, fast and very athletic - he's fast to learn and not afraid to be aggressive in pursuit of a score, any score. All of this is great and it makes it very fun to watch him play sports....it's the intangibles of athletics that are harder to teach him - win with integrity, lose with grace...all that stuff. The PHD recognition meant so much to all of us. We felt like all of our "talks" had not fallen on deaf ears - he was learning good life skills and showing them to others. It was a great way to begin some good conversations between Winston and his Daddy about ALWAYS giving 100% and the payoff of good honest hard work. Let's just hope it sticks. In the meantime, we could not have prouder of that young man. Needless to say, he enjoyed a Red Plate Meal at home that night!
As if the PHD honors wasn't enough of a high note to end our basketball season....we got a bit of round-ball dessert. And oh my goodness, was it great!!
A little back story here -- Winston's school has a SHINE store. It's a bit like the Chuck E Cheese prize counter on wheels. Every 6 weeks, the SHINE carts visit each classroom and students redeem their SHINE tickets for prizes and certificates. This SHINE store is near and dear to my heart because I coordinate the project and get to see first hand how exciting it is for the children to redeem their tickets that are very well earned by good behavior, modeling our school values, etc. on cool toys and really fun certificates. The first round of SHINE store this year, Winston had a whole bunch of SHINE tickets to redeem and couldn't wait to purchase a certificate good for a game a basketball against his P.E. Teacher. That certificiate has been hanging on our fridge for months and he couldn't wait to get a chance to play basketball with Mr Seitz. The big day finally came last Friday.
Winston's entire class went to the gym to cheer him on....he was a little nervous at first about everyone watching him but he loved having the moral support. His buddy from kindergarten, Tyrek, also had a basketball certificate so the boys played a game of one-on-one and then they teamed up and played two-on-one against a VERY good Mr Seitz!!
It was so great to watch. The boys played him hard and had great fun. Mr Seitz cut them NO SLACK and slam dunked a few times and kept the score close in all 3 games. The noise level in that gym was unreal -- the kids were chanting "Winston" and "Tyrek" the whole time and it was just so much fun!! I was so happy I could be there to watch - and to watch a bunch of sweet children cheering for my boy. What a way to end our basketball season....not that it's over around here...in case you haven't heard - the ODU Monarchs made it to the dance and even won in their first round game. The Grant boys are perched in front of the laptop watching the game online....it'll be a tough one this afternoon but they don't call it March Madness for nothing!!!
So now, we are gearing up for some baseball here....first time for The Grants....something tells me we're in for some good times!!
Here are some pics of Winston and Tyrek's game.....
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