Sports Banquet

LO's sports banquet was tonight. Now, last night was Report Card Pickup and we had a hot dog supper. Tonight was a sports banquet. You'd expect it to be different from the hot dot supper, right? Well, life has its little ironies. 

Last year, they had one sports banquet and it took THREE HOURS to give recognition to all the athletes. Thank you! -- this year they decided to have a banquet for fall sports and then one in the spring. 

Each athlete received a certificate for participating, and a brass pin with the symbol for his sport. LO's pin is a tennis racquet. The cheerleaders got megaphones, and the football players got helmets. 

Each sport had awards for Most Improved, MVP, and best sportsmanship. In tennis, it was a given that the MVP would go to both our top two players, first and second seed. Both of them were unbeaten all season. I wondered if LO would receive Most Improved, as she did improve tremendously this season. This award was also given to two players, one 8th grader and one 7th grader.

I have to admit I teared up when she got the award for being the best sport on the team. She often gathered up her 8th-grade friends to go courtside and cheer for the 7th graders in their matches. She encouraged her opponents. She made a point to find them after the match and give them another 'good game.' And in the toughest match of the season, she had a 10-minute argument on the courts over the score. The opponent was misstating the score  -- in LO's favor -- and LO knew that it was incorrect. 

Finally the coaches came out onto court and finally agreed that LO was correct -- that her score was a bit lower than the opponent was saying. 

I. am. proud.

LO before the banquet with the 7th grade players. (LO is an 8th grader.)

Tennis Woes

LO and her team lost their tennis meet yesterday, to a team from across the county. The tow-headed girls arrived at our school in their white dresses accompanied by 50 or so adoring parents. The parents loudly cheered their girls, insulted our girls, ate food and threw their wrappers, drink cans and bottles on the ground. 

Our girls played gamely (ha), held their heads up, and persisted despite some unsportsmanlike conduct from the opponents. 

Our top two seeded players won both their singles matches and doubles. The rest of the girls lost, and handily.

LO and her opponent battled fiercely for the game. LO would make the point, the opp would. The opp would make a point, LO would. Finally, it was 7-all, deuce, add-out. Meaning, in real-world talk, bottom of the 9th,tied, bases loaded, 2 outs, 2 strikes.  

The opponent hit it short, LO's favorite ploy, and...she did not make it to the net to return. 

Disappointed, LO shook hands and headed for her tennis moms with a tear or two in her eye. They consoled then told her to buck up, doubles time. 

For the doubles game, LO had passed sad and reached mad. She played fiercely but the competition was stronger. With each passing point, she got angrier and angrier. The anger worked against her as she began to hit OOBs and net balls. She was making beautiful hits, strong and straight, but lost her control. She and her partner lost the match. 

After the meet, I suggested she return to the court and just hit balls as hard as she could. Her eyes lit up. Once before we used this ploy to work off anger, and it worked. Her gfs and guy friends accompanied her and they hit until they began to laugh and normalcy returned. We loaded the car with friends to ferry home, then headed to one of her favorite restaurants for a good plate of fettucini alfredo. (ick.) One gf came along for dinner and we made what could have been a disastrous night into pretty much a success.

DH was on night shift. The house was quiet as LO settled down for homework. "I really want to beat them next time we play," she said. (We play them again in 3 weeks.) "I want to practice every single day and do 140 situps a day so we can win." 

She's a good girl. 

Today we got the following email from her coach:

Yesterday was a tough loss, but I can't tell you how proud of the girls T, S, and I were.  It seemed like we started off in a bit of a hole but we didn't give up, and that's all you can ask for.  I want to apologize for any comments you may have heard from opposing parents or coaches.  Also, thank you for helping us pick up the excess trash that was left.  I think that we, as a team, showed much more class in defeat than they did in victory.  We have an open date on Monday, so I'll have a normal practice.  Thank you D and S for the snacks yesterday.  Enjoy the weekend and thanks for all your support, Coach B.

Tennis Match

Have you ever developed old-timey photographs? It's such a thrill when the paper is in the solution and the first faint lines of the photograph begin to show. At that point you know that your work, the setting up the shot, the taking it, the light, and the developing, have all worked together and your photo is coming through. We are having that same feeling in a different setting. 

 LO won her tennis match yesterday -- in fact, her team pretty much blotto'ed the other team. The opponents had scores only in the doubles matches, when our coach put in the lower-ranked players to give them some court time. Even then, the scores were 8-0, 8-3 and 8-5, with our doubles players winning. 

LO seemed embarrassed to be defeating her opponent so soundly. At about midway through the game, she began saying such things as, "Nice serve," "Good return" or just, "Nice!" At one point, I believe it was 6-0, a set had just completed, and the girls met at the net to adjust the score and grab a sip of water. LO smiled at the girl and said, "You ought to stop reaching for the ball when it's out of bounds. You could get the point if you'd let it go out." The girl smiled and said thanks, but kept trying to hit the ball. 

After their match, the opponents' coach approached LO and shook her hand. "Thank you for encouraging my player," he said. 

This morning, I was in the school library doing some volunteer work when the principal made the morning announcements. He congratulated the girls' tennis team and announced the scores. Then he announced he had received a call from the opposing coach, complimenting our girls on their good sportsmanship. 

We feel that LO is beginning to "get it." It is a thrill. 

Evening Tennis

LO made 5th seed on her tennis team this week, not a permanent position by any means. FYI if you are as unschooled as I in tennis terms, top 6 on a team rule.
She is very aware of her vulnerability and asked to go practice today. After driving around our TinyTown USA and finding no courts open, we traversed out to the county school where her meet will be on Monday. Vacant courts lured us and we hit balls for over an hour.
It was smart to play on the court where she will be on Monday, and I wish we had wound up there by design, rather than by grace.
We got there at 6 and hit til 7:30. The sun was low, but temps were still hot. There was an intermittent breeze, and the sweet-sour smell surrounded us of mown grass lying damp in heaps outside the courts. The school is less than 10 years old, so the courts are not cracked as at her school, and the fence is not rusted and bent.
"Hit me volleys, Nana," she urged. "I don't want to let K (her doubles partner) down."
So I hit her volleys until, as she demanded, she returned 10 in a row, properly, not lollipops or out-of-bounds. It took about 35 minutes to get 10 in a row. She'd reach 8, then miss one, and we'd have to start all over. When she made 10, I celebrated with knuckles and a quick kiss on her head, but she only humored me and said, "Now let's hit."
Old Nana doesn't move as fast as her opponents, who are 13 years old, and it wasn't long until all the balls were lined up against the fence on my side of the court. We'd clean 'em up and hit again.
I cajoled her into trying my racquet for a few minutes, to see if it felt any better to her. Both are the cheapest that were available at WalMart, several years ago, when I still shopped at the Store of Satan. The really good players have Head racquets, and lovely little tennis skirts for practice. After evaluating my racquet she politely advised me that hers feels better, but thanks for the offer. No problem, I said, just wanted you to give it a shot.

When her tennis elbow began to bother her, she "allowed" me to finish and head for the car. I could tell she was uncomfortable but she did not say. Neither did I.
I was thankful that I'm carrying 30 pounds less than a few months ago, so that I did move a tad faster and lasted maybe a nanosecond longer. Our water tasted so good and we could feel the cold of it moving down the pipes to our stomachs.
We headed to the store and perused the elbow wraps, selecting the one that looked the best, and conveniently enough, cost the least.
It was a great evening and one I hope to remember for a long time.