The Big Time

Big time indeed.

Jessie played a little basketball last year. Church ball and one season of county rec. She liked it a lot and decided that she wanted to try out for the high school team. But as the year passed and then the week of tryouts approached she got cold feet, telling us she didn't think she wanted to try out after all. What if she embarrassed herself? What if she got cut right off the bat? She knew she lacked experience and she was worried. We told her to just try. Mike told her about how he regretted not showing up for wrestling tryouts in high school, and told her to avoid the same regret. Either way it would be a good experience. She asked me if I thought she could make it. I told her I had no idea, that it depended on the competition, what the coaches were looking for, etc. I had a pretty good idea that they would be looking for as many freshmen as possible, and told J. she had an advantage there. I knew this because I was cut myself as a Sophomore at BHS during basketball tryouts, ending my dream of becoming a professional basketball player. True story. ...ha ha ha...

As tryouts progressed throughout the week, and she survived one cut after another, we became more amazed. We had given her an outside chance, but now we dared to hope. We also became more nervous for her, because the stakes got higher every day.

It was an awesome moment that last day of tryouts when they called her over and then sent her jogging to the team locker room to claim her spot. I know parents sometimes get a bad rap for living their dreams vicariously through their children. But I have to admit, I am pretty stoked. For the record, I did not drive her toward basketball in any way. She was the one who asked to play rec. last year, and practiced on the driveway for hours. I sometimes worked with her on some fundamentals, but we didn't sign her up for any camps (we couldn't justify the cost this past year).

As a side note, we had to pull her out of the school she's been going to since 1st grade (that was a teary day for both of us) and put her in our boundary middle school so she could make it to daily workouts and games. What a fiasco. Did you know that in Utah if your boundary school is at capacity they do not have to accept  mid-year transfers of students living within their boundaries if they are transferring from a charter school? Neither did I. There was some high drama around here for about a week, as we made phone calls and visits to both of our nearest middle schools, the district, the high school, and met with the head coach. It basically came down to the principal (a really good guy) taking pity on us, and the head coach at BHS putting in a call to the middle school to plead our case. We were grateful that they made it work in the end. She transitioned fairly smoothly, although the first day when I picked her up after school she was in a state of emotional shock and awe. It's tough to come from a small, strict, simple, and academically heavy environment to such a crowded, chaotic place. I felt for her. We were able to get her into a few honors classes, and release time seminary (yippee!! --after half a year of early morning seminary). But she has been blown away at how little time teachers spend teaching, how disrespectful kids are in some of her classes, how watered-down the curriculum seems to be at times, how kids dress, the language, the lunch room. On the flip side, she's been pleasantly surprised at the social opportunities (for Jessie this is big...so many new people to meet!), the technology in the classrooms (every kid has an iPad), her honors Lit. class, how welcoming teachers and kids have been, not wearing a uniform... and the cute boys.
:)    

Middle school USA.

She has a whole new perspective now... and an appreciation for where she's been. So do we. I love NPA more than ever.  I worried that she would wither on the vine - academically and socially...but I think she'll be fine. We feel like it's the right thing to let her play.
This is going to be great. Go Miners!