Championship Day

Today marks the day my son's YMCA youth basketball team will play for the East Championship. Last night they played in the semi-finals and won by about eighteen points. Nick played for about thirty seconds at the end of the game. Nick missed practices and this coach holds players back from playing when they miss practices. But I write this today not to gripe about the coach but to recognize my son's steadfastness as a team member while on the bench. I saw him cheering his teammates on and leaping to his feet when they made exceptional plays. I'm proud of him for supporting the team and his willingness to go into the game at the very end. I played some sports when I was younger but was never a gifted athlete and my Dad never saw me play anything. As a father it is important to me to be there supporting Nick in all he does even sitting on the bench. I know and he knows that he is capable of playing at a high level. Today will be a new game and I believe Nick will again be a valuable player for the team. As a father who is a much better arm chair athlete than he was a real athlete, re-lives some of my own youth through his actions on the court. As a father I couldn't have been more proud of him last night.