my 2 cents

this year we are struggling to form a freshmen girls basketball team. last year i only had 7 girls, and this year only 7 girls came out again. now before you go thinking that i'm scaring them all off before they even get to high school, it's not true....really. it's a trend that we are seeing in sports across the board at timothy christian. as coaches, we're stuck scratching our head and wondering why we have to beg kids to stay playing or search the halls far and wide to find enough bodies to fill our uniforms. i ran across this quote from a volleyball coach's blog in an entry titled "my love letter to athletics"...

“We need to encourage parents, coaches, sports leagues, the culture itself to go back to multiple sports participation. And there needs to be real off-seasons with unstructured play. No adults. No rules. No leagues. No registration cards. One of the best sentences a parent can utter is ‘Go outside and play.’ One of the worst is, ‘It’s nine a.m. Get in the car, we’re going to practice.’” (Warrior Girls)

"go outside and play." pretty sure i heard that one a time or two. but that "play" is now what i love. so i realized i need to say a big thank you to my parents and coaches who instilled in me a love for play with the right perspective....and my siblings and friends for being my teammates. a love for play in its pure, hard-working, sometimes unstructured but so very rewarding form.