You all know by now that we are not an athletic family - outdoorsy..sure, sports fans..o.k. but as for being an athlete....not really in our gene pool. We exercise. We swim. We jog. We can ride bikes. But athletes we are not and we are o.k. with that. Matthew is already ahead of his parents since he is quite the athlete in martial arts.
The camp had three groups of kids - 4-5 years olds (those heading to kindergarten this fall), 5-6 year olds (who just finished kindergarten) & a group that just finished 1st grade. Probably about twenty-ish kids per group. Matthew was one of probably three kids that didn't have good control over the ball. I was astounded to see 5 years running while dribbling (well, I might add), jumping to shoot & successfully making a basket in a regulation height basketball net! I said something to another mother about how is it these kids are so good. She said most have been playing on basketball teams through the Y & other youth programs since they were 3. I realize there are kids with bigger sibs that may play & there are Dads that play and some kids are just exposed to it but I was floored by the coordination & focus. These kids weren't playing around, they were "playing" the game. Let's just say it was eye-opening. Granted, Matthew isn't super strong in the area of coordination...he has lots of other wonderful strengths and we are all different people - that's one wonderful thing about humans. We don't have to be all alike. But it was interesting.
Regardless of the aptitude of the other children, Matthew reported he really liked basketball. I told him we could get a basketball and we could go to the school or another local court and play/practice over the summer if he liked. He was all for that. It was very apparent that the more athletic children tended to pass the ball to each other and I want help Matthew improve those skills if he would like to. I certainly remember what it was like being an un-athletic kid in school and if I can help my child bridge that gap some, I'd be happy to do so. We arrived early one day & I spent about 15 minutes with Matthew showing him the little I knew about dribbling & shooting a basket - that in itself made a big difference...I understand they aren't able to do a lot of personalized help in this camp but I wish I had known beforehand that preparing him would have helped! I guess lesson learned.
I can tell you I will certainly consider putting Patrick in basketball next year after he turns 3 vs. soccer. I see now there is probably a lot more one can gain from basketball than soccer.
4 comments:
Matthew seems to be enjoying it a lot. I guess this was offered through the school? What a nice program...As long as he likes racing, but stays out of the cars..LOL!
It was a camp offered by Tom Haslam, who is the basketball coach at Nativity & the Director of the P.E. program & Student Affairs. His wife is also one of the kindergarten teachers so he's really good with the younger kids. As far as racing, Matthew says he wants to be a baker, an astronaut & definitely a NASCAR driver - he has already chosen some of his sponsors (if only it worked that way! LOL)...he plans to have Starbucks & Summit Construction!
Well he would need to have his Daddy's company and knowing how much stock you could have invested in Starbucks already....No wonder...LOL!!! Good for him...Great goals...and technically, none would interfere with the other...I hope he goes for them all....
We're in the same boat. Logan is not an athlete. I don't know what to put him in anymore! I think martial arts is next though.
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