Youth Basketball: McFlurry All American

On the basketball court, my daughter is typically in her happy place. One Thursday night during the first game of a doubleheader basketball game she was not. You could see it on her face.

Her best friend is on the team and was suppose to sleep over after the game, however plans quickly changed prior to the game. The team only had 5 players for the doubleheader so the coach sent out a note appealing for a sub or two. CC's best friend has a cousin who plays for a select team nearby and could play so arrangements were made to get the cousin to the game. These arrangements included a sleepover for the cousin at the best friend's house. This canceled the sleepover at our house. CC was not happy.

Game 104 and 105

CC started the first game at point guard. CC is our team's leading scorer so she drew the best defender from the other team to cover her. The defender happens to be the best defender in the league and gave my distracted daughter fits during the first quarter. CC's team got down 12-0. The coach decided try the guest player at point guard. The girl is very good and had some success. It was a good coaching move because the top defender continued to defend CC. CC was not happy seeing her sleepover competition also take her point guard position.

The top defender eventually went to cover our guest player as the game progressed. This opened the door for CC to score six fourth quarter points. CC's team lost by 1 point. It was a great game but my daughter was sad.

There was a one hour wait between games. CC could not wait for the coach to end the post game speech. As soon as the speech was done she immediately walked out the door of the gym and motioned me over. I could see the sadness on her face.

"You know what you need?", I said.
"What?"
"A M&M McFlurry. There's a McDonald's down the street"
"Before the second game?"
"Why not?"
"Sure"

She got the McFlurry and we talked. She expressed how sad she was about not having a sleepover and how pissed she was that she was not the point guard anymore. I explained to her that it was a good coaching decision since it opened up the offense and eventually helped her score 6 important points late in the game. I told her that she would be back at point guard for the next game. My daughter started to relax and look forward to the next game.

As the next game started, CC was on the bench. She had played the entire first game and the coach wanted to make things even. The timing was not good. CC turned to me with a "I told you so look". CC eventually got into the game 3 minutes later as the point guard. She faced a much weaker defender compared to the last game and CC scored in the double digits including a nice give and go with the sleepover competition. The smile returned to her face.

The Main Point

Sleepovers are more important than winning a basketball game when the girls are nine years old and ice cream before a game can be beneficial.