Basketball Season, Here We Go!

It's that time of year again.. basketball. Last year, Russell was head coaching the boys team, and Jess was his assistant. This year, however, as our school is understaffed, Jess is coaching the girls team- while pregnant.

Our first game was last night, after a total of 5 practices- 4 in a gym. For the majority of our players, this is the first time they've ever played organized basketball. It can feel like coaching elementary sometimes. Last night in the game, Russell had to "remind" some of our players of some very basic rules. It's easy to take that kind of thing for granted in high school basketball.

The games went fairly well. The girls won 19-15, but the boys got trounced 18-56. For the guys, the team we played was the best team in the league, so starting off with them wasn't exactly ideal. To top it off, we play them again on Saturday- our schedule is goofy. To top THAT off, two of our starting forwards are out with leg injuries. Flexibility is the name of the game for us now, which isn't that bad of a thing because the real reason we are here is not to play or coach basketball- it's to set an example for our players to emulate. We have been striving this year to make our coaching position more of a discipler position- pouring into our kids spiritually. Some of them respond very well, and deep bonds are formed.

We look forward to the rest of the season. Keep checking back for updates on how we're doing as a team, and how the ministry is going!