Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Mine!

Lily and Rosie celebrate post game.
 Lily has a love and passion for one sport and one sport only.
She is a volleyball girl.
I asked her what she liked about it, and she told me that all of her friends are on the team, she is improving a lot and it's fun. All true.
Lily is not one of the stronger players, but her skills have improved a ton since the beginning of the season.  Her fabulous coaches have spent many, many one-on-one hours working with her and it shows. The thing is, the team is very good. They are chock full of sporty girl volleyball talent and win their games more often then not. As a mom, I was worried about the other girls getting frustrated with Lil when those inevitable shanks and flubs occurred, but I was happily mistaken.
There was never a time, throughout the entire season, when Lily didn't receive 100% volleyball sisterhood support. It was an enormous relief to watch her teammates enthusiastically cheer her on... each little mark of improvement was celebrated. It was awesome. As I watched her last game of the season, I realized that she was playing much differently then the beginning of the season. The girls are taught to call the ball... they yell "mine" when the ball comes to them. During those early games I would get so nervous when I heard Lily's wobbly little "mine."
But on Saturday, Lily's "mines" were clear and confident... and as it turns out, she definitely owned each one. Only six of our players were able to make the game... the minimum number, so everyone played the entire time, no substitutions. Those six girls were on fire... they showed tremendous teamwork and trust in each other...good sportsmanship at it's 5th grade best.
The coaches and parents were proud of the girls, the girls were proud of each other, it was great... then before school on Monday morning Lily receives this email...
"We are the League Champs with a winning record of 24-6!"
Congratulations to the the 5th grade girls Silver Knights- you ladies are inspirational!
Wishing you best of luck at tournament! 

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