Play Maker...

...Well not really but she is really trying hard! 

Emily decided that she wanted to play Upward Basketball for the Winter Season...she has no real experience and when we showed up for the "Evaluation", we noticed that a lot of the girls did..Emily was like a deer in headlights during their first scrimmage game...she was biting her nails and had no clue what was going on. She is a Lady Trojan on a  team consisting of 8 players.  Only 3 of the 8 players are 3rd graders, the rest are 4th graders.  Emily and a little girl named "S" are the only ones that have not played before.  The upper division is quite a bit different than John Daniel's kindergarten league....The girls are pretty big (Emily is by far the smallest)..they are serious, athletic, and aggressive....but nice, team players, and good sports.  That is the reason we like Upward so much, you don't have the screaming parents on the sidelines acting like it is a life or death play..Everyone is positive and cheerful!  She has improved greatly!  She has even touched the ball and dribbled the ball down the court a few times the last two games.  She is learning that it is o.k. to show a little aggression when playing sports.  She is getting better at defense.  She is hustling on the court.  At home, she begs us to play and she makes really good shots/baskets but she hasn't attempted that yet in a game...she has made many during practices.  She is gaining some self confidence and seems to really enjoy it.  I give her credit for going back out there time and time again. Not once has she told us she didn't want to play or that it was to hard...she has not once complained!  I would have NEVER done something like that as a kid...I was intimidated by everything but even though you can tell she is nervous, she keeps trying which I am very very very proud of!