Lia's First Basketball Game of the Season

Lia finished off her first basketball season last March definitely wanting to return to the sport again this year.  She had a great coach last year (a mother of a girl who was in Lia's preK class) and really enjoyed learning the sport and bonding with her teammates.  Lia then went on to play softball with this same coach and several of the same girls.  There was just one little problem with Lia's former basketball team.  One of the girls was a bit of a basketball phenom for her age and dominated the ball for the majority of the games.  As a result, Lia barely ever got to touch the ball at most games last year.  So, we decided to not put Lia on the same team again this year even though it meant not playing with the same girls she had played with in two different sports back to back January through June 2016 and not being coached by the same mom.  Ron and I felt like it was the right decision even though it required Lia to make some sacrifices.
Lia is now on a small team this year with just five other girls.  Two of them are her good friends Sienna and Mollie and Mollie's dad is the coach.  Lia has really started to progress in the sport this year since she is not just trying to figure out the basic rules of the game.  She is getting more confident and aggressive and is going to have way more game time this season since there are so few girls on her team.  I think that we made the right decision to move here.
Today was her first game and ironically Lia's team played against her old coach and old teammates.  It sure felt strange to sit at the other end of the gym from so many parents who we rooted and cheered with last year!  But the girls fought a good fight til the bitter end even though they didn't win.  Here are some pictures of the game.

Lia trying to get the ball.

Lia guarding her girl.

Running down the court with her teammates.

Lia got to play point guard this game and was able to bring the ball down court several times.

Lia looking for a teammate to pass the ball to.

Lia throwing the ball.

Getting ready to catch the ball from Mollie.

Lia chasing after the ball.