A few days ago #4 of 5’s basketball season came to an end, and with that, came the end of her basketball career with the St. John the Baptist’s Saints. It was a bittersweet moment for me. You see, #4 of 5 joined the Girls Basketball team as a forth grader during the 2010-2011 season. It was also the very first year St. John’s offered a basketball program. After a progressively popular and successful series of seasons with the Saints I suspect she will continue to play, but next year she will be playing as a Jordan Jaguar at the (public) middle school.
I will (of course) root for the Jaguars, but I will always remember my daughter as a St. John the Baptist Saint, and the Saints will forever hold a soft spot in my heart.
(The “We Love our Saints” hankies were given out a few years back. I still keep mine in my memory box. Yes, I must admit it’s a little wrinkled, but those wrinkles do not affect the memories that the hankie brings me!)
It has been a lot of fun watching these girls grow over the years - individually and together as a team.
With the official “competition portion” of the season behind us, there was only one thing left to do before we could close the books on the 2012-2013 season.
It was time for the the annual Basketball Banquet and “kids vs parents” basketball games!
Due to previous work-commitments I have never been able to partake in these events, but this year (ironically, #4 of 5’s last year) karma came to my rescue and the kids vs parent game and the Banquet fell upon my days off! I was actually quite excited to be able to participate!
The Mother of Five and #5 of 5 also came to watch (and cheer). While the Mother of Five never really told me who she was rooting for (I suspect it was for“Team Kids”), #5 of 5 told me that she thought the parents were going to win, and was planning on cheering for “Team Parents”!
The Mother of Five was able to snap a few “less than flattering” photos during the game. The talented and beautiful young woman in yellow is the one and only #4 of 5, while that overweight, flush-faced, and sweaty gelatinous blob dressed in black is yours truly, The Father of Five.
(Forgive me for your impending nightmares of fat sweaty gelatinous blobs.)
I know, I know, I know… You all want to know who won, right??? Well, I’ll be honest – we were keeping score for 3/4 of the game (“were” being the operative word). The girls took an early lead, but throughout the time we were keeping score, the lead passed back and forth between the kids and the parents. Neither side got much more than four or six points ahead of the other before the lead was lost.
Here’s my take on it. If these 4th, 5th, and 6th grade girls were able to keep up with their moms and dads as well as they did – I don’t really care what the score was. The girls won!
(Actually, in the end, I do believe the girls final score was slightly higher than the parents… )
After the game (thankfully) we all had time to head home and clean up. Then, we all met back at the Ridges of Sand Creek Clubhouse for a Taco Buffet!
After everyone had their fill of soft shell tacos, hard shell tacos, and taco salad, this year’s coaches gave a great little season finale speech, and recognized this years sixth graders for all the work they have put in over the years to help make the Basketball program at St. John’s so successful!
Then, each sixth grader was presented a medal! (#4 of 5 is on the far right)
Below, you see #4 of 5 receiving the medal from her coach.
Of course, I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to recognize the foundation of our teams’ successes.
Left - The Girls Basketball Coach Dave M.
Right– The Boys Basketball Coach DJ N.
(DJ also coached the girls team in the past)
These dads invested a lot of their time and talents into building a successful Basketball program at St. John’s.
They deserve many thanks and unending gratitude for all they have done for our children!
Once the awards were handed out, each of the sixth graders were called back up to the front of the room, and asked to assist the coaches in handing out a piece of cake to all the parents and family members attending. I could not pass up the opportunity to snap a couple of pics of #4 of 5 serving cake!
As I said earlier, this was a very bittersweet day for me. I was so grateful that my schedule allowed me to partake this year, and I truly had a ton of fun – but it also means that this chapter of my daughter’s life is closing – and along with the end of her career as a St. John’s Saint, it also means she is one step closer to the end of her time at St. John the Baptist School.
For the time being though, I would much rather dwell on all the great time, great friends, and great memories #4 of 5 has had during her time as a St. John’s Saint!
Sweetie, I cannot even begin to explain just how proud I am of you! Keep up the good work!!
