Our family just wrapped up fall sports season last week.
This was our first year with more than one child in sports at one time, and it was our first year with a child in middle school sports- which is whole new ball game (pun absolutely intended).
I know I’ve mentioned on the blog before that we are NOT the family who signs up for everything. My rule has been that if it is offered through our school, we can consider it. Well, as our school grows and our kids get older, the offerings have increased and we have taken many of the opportunities. I know that this will change as the kids grow older. Theo and I were both very involved in sports growing up, and so far all of our kids have shown great interest and some skill level in athletic abilities. We know that they most likely aren’t going to become professional sports players as adults, but we do want to encourage their abilities and enjoyment in sports, while also not running our family into the ground. It’s a delicate balance, that is for sure!
This year Tera took the opportunity to try out for the junior high volleyball team! This was a 5th-8th grade team and Tera was by far the youngest and smallest player on her team. She had never even hit a volleyball before she went in for try-outs, so I did a good job of encouraging her to try her best but to not be disappointed if she didn’t make the team! Thankfully, our school is really supportive of all ability levels and had enough players to make a “less experienced” junior high team and a “more experienced” junior high team! Tera made the team and LOVED it!
She had practice twice a week, and games began in late August, running through the beginning of October. It felt like such a short season with almost all the games being in September. There were some weeks that we had 3 or more games a week! As a Mom who is relatively new to the sporting world, I struggled to adjust my already very full schedule to the away game schedule and really struggled to get Tera to games with all three other kids in tow. This is absolutely something that we will continue to do if our kids want to play sports (within reason, of course), but the learning curve for me was STEEP!
Tera did a great job in volleyball, and we loved watching her improve with each week as the season went on! She really enjoyed the sport and her teammates, even though she didn’t know most of them before the season started. I’m really proud of her!
The boys jumped right on the opportunity for a new sport at our school- junior cross country! Two of my friends volunteered to couch our K-2 students in cross country, and there were over 35 kids who turned out to run! They had practice once a week and LOVED it. The coaches made running so fun by playing games, doing stretches and just running around with their friends!
They had two meets- for both meets Theo and I were in charge of timing the runners and I didn’t get any pictures! But Ezra placed first in his age division for both meets and Kiah placed first and third respectively.
The both LOVED cross country and excelled at it. I have the feeling that in just a few years, my kids will be out running with me…and probably going much faster than me!
Now we get to enjoy our downtime with no sports on the calendar! I am sure that if basketball is offered as a winter sport, we will be doing that and Tera loves to be on our jump rope team in the spring as well. Even though sports does add a lot to our schedule, I’m thankful that we have kind of eased into it, with each year getting a little bit more intense than the last. And most of all, I’m so thankful for these healthy bodies that can run and jump and hit and play – and love doing it!
Ori was such a supportive little brother, and he also really wanted to be smiling in these pictures! Haha.
