Friday 24 July 2015

Hoop Dreams & Church Ball

When I was growing up there were two things that were a constant in my life: Church and Basketball.

As a child, I would watch the youth and adults during Ward Nights in awe. I would see elbows fly and baskets being dunked on. I would see missionaries join in on their P-Days and turn into these competitive sports stars, all keen for the win. It was great! 

The biggest competitions weren't school or community tournaments, it was the church ones. Stake Basketball was the big time. The basketball practices would be intense and you really had to earn your game time.  It was at these practices that I learnt to box out, screen, dribble, lay up, shuffle those feet and shoot. 


I wasn't exactly a natural when it came to playing ball. When I started High School I made the basketball team purely on my sister Ama's reputation. I remember the looks the coaches gave each other after they had made that decision and then asked me to do a jump shot.  Priceless. I was so unnatural at it in the beginning that when I was in Beehives (12-13yrs old) and it was time for Stake Basketball tournament, I was a cheerleader. That's right - a cheerleader!  There were four of us around the same age.  

"We're out to win, we're out to fight. 
We're from the East, we're dynamite" 

"That's East! E-A-S-T, that East E-A-S-T
That's E with an Eh and an A-S-T
You put it altogether and that spells East
That's East - Yeah!"   

Oh those cheers! We did have fun but thank goodness there weren't many video recordings around back then. 

The competition was pretty fierce. You were allowed to have three non-members (not members of the church) in your team but they had to attend church at least three times before the tournament. You knew it was nearly tournament time, because some of the best players in the area were at church for three times that year. Yes, basketball is a great missionary tool. 

You would almost taste tension soup between Wards from the first game. No team was underestimated. There may have been a few flying fists here and there (because we all know, we are not perfect) and there may have been one or two wards that didn't really care, but we're weren't one of them. Yes, there were tears when a team lost the in the semi-finals or the finals because everyone was on their way to join Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, John Stockton & Michael Jordan in the NBA hahaha.   

I have fond memories of church ball. Great friends, the soreness the next day and wondering when we could play again. 

Today, over 20 years later we're off to watch our teenagers play in their first Stake Basketball tournament. It's spread over a few weeks. I went to watch my son at one of his practices and even though I tried to compose myself the words 'fell' out, 

"Move you feet son!" 
"Move to the ball" 
"Hands up"
"Seagull!" 

Then the clincher "I want a turn"
"Mum, sit down. Please". 

What basketball has taught me is that after the final whistle has blown there are better wins to be made even if you didn't come first. 

Fitness, sportsmanship, and friendships are great wins. Invitations extended way beyond tournament dates that have changed lives are greater wins and this is what I want my children to learn from the game too. 








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