Four Things I Learned From a Nine-year-old Basketball Player

For the past eight weeks I have spent every Saturday morning sitting on hard wooden bleachers at the local junior high gymnasium watching Brighton and his team of future NBA hopefuls run up and down the junior sized basketball court mimicking their favorite basketball stars. I've seen a lot of high-fives, a few victory dances, and even a chest bump. I've seen shots made and missed, (more missed than made, however). I've even learned a thing or two. Here is a list of four things I learned from my son while watching him play basketball:

1.) Practice makes perfect. This one is easy; I mean, we've all heard it before. But I actually saw this work on my son. My husband bought him a mini basketball hoop for his bedroom door last winter, and starting in January, Brighton has made use of that hoop every day for at least an hour. What do you know? His shooting has greatly improved. The lesson for me is to keep trying, no matter how silly I feel. One day I'll get there.

2.) Stay ahead of the opponent. I didn't actually learn this while watching, but rather while playing basketball with Brighton. He always gets in front of me and pushes me around with his back side. No matter what I do, if he gets ahead of me, I can't get around him. This made me think of my opponents in life. If I let them get ahead of me, it'll become that much harder to defeat them.

3.) Take breaks often. I've watched my son sitting on the sideline after playing for a quarter: His face is red; he's sipping water from a bottle; his eyes are on the game. He's resting and restoring his energy for the next time he's called in to play. How often do I feel tired, but keep moving only to break down, or collapse later? It's hard as an adult to take breaks; we have things we have to do, places we need to go. But if we don't listen to our bodies and minds when they are calling for a break, we aren't going to be strong enough to finish the game.

4.) You stand a better chance of winning when you're a team player. Admittedly, I am not much of a team player--when it comes to sports, that is. I'm so afraid of letting people down. I've watched the boys on the team; each has his own gift, whether it be shooting and scoring, or guarding and defending. Each is vital to the team. In anything, having a team supporting you, pushing you toward your goals, picking up some of the load when you aren't able to, brings greater chances of success. There are times when I might be the weakest link, but there will be times when my strength picks up where another's left off.

Basketball season is over now. My Saturday mornings are again reserved for housework. Hurray. Lucky me. Now let's see how I apply the lessons I've learned while watching basketball to spring cleaning. (Those dust bunnies don't stand a chance!)