JV Basketball

I have enough adrenaline and aggression to supply the left flank of a Spartan army. None of my girls do. One gets hit in the face with a soccer ball on her first day of practice at the age of 5 and doesn't join a sport for 4 years. Another is adept at any sport she tries, but is mostly concerned with how her hair looks. The youngest, who knows. I think she just plans on being the best without any dues paying.

I go to a JV's girls' basketball game today. My dad had always said, "Girls can't play basketball. They are not anatomically suited for it." He is a jerk, though, so I don't even waste time on fact checking. Pubescent girls may have a little trouble getting the right amount of air to dunk, but I am not seeing a lot of difference between them and the film clippings of the the old white college teams. Wait. I take that back. I think the girls today look a little better. They move, they flow, and they do it young.

Except for my kids, of course. They hold back and watch the ball. They don't run in to snag the ball or spurt with a breakaway. It is actually hard for my own body to sit and watch. I want to get in and burst. But I sit and watch and bite my tongue. I say, "Nice game. Glad you got to see some court time."

It's only sports. It's only a game. It's not worth a destroyed relationship with a daughter. Drive is a very individual thing and we all have it in different ways, but, my heart hurts.

She Got Game.