Still, he gamely tries over and over. When he misses a few in a row, he says he needs to switch positions, and hit it in another direction. Every once in a while, I caught him aiming in the direction of the house, or the window.
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Friday, April 27, 2012
Play ball!
Noah cracks me up with his running commentary while trying to swing. Most of the time he misses, he says, "Oh yeah, I forgot to keep my eye on the ball." Pretty hard to do when your eyes are shut at impact.
Still, he gamely tries over and over. When he misses a few in a row, he says he needs to switch positions, and hit it in another direction. Every once in a while, I caught him aiming in the direction of the house, or the window.
Still, he gamely tries over and over. When he misses a few in a row, he says he needs to switch positions, and hit it in another direction. Every once in a while, I caught him aiming in the direction of the house, or the window.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Learning to hit the ball
Noah is super excited for T-ball this summer. He's mastered nailing the ball off the tee, but yesterday afternoon when he went to play with his neighbor buddy, the older neighbor kid from down the street (Parker) came up and was teaching the boys to hit the ball without the T. It took Noah several strikes before he finally nailed this one.
Of course, Parker and I immediately get excited and congratulate him for making contact with the ball. Noah's response "that was a foul ball". So funny, he understands the game so well from Wii Sports.
But, after a little patience he was hitting the ball!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Brookside Soccer
What a difference a year makes. When we started him in YMCA soccer a year ago, Noah barely acknowledged that there was some sort of sport going on around him. He was content to run around and play with his friends, occasionally being corralled by a coach and instructed to do something. We signed him up again in the Spring, and he was marginally better, but until the last couple of games it wasn't very apparent he understood what the point of the game was.
On Saturday, we played his first game of the new season, now with Brookside Soccer, and suddenly Noah played like he knew what he was doing. It helps that it's 3-on-3 instead of two herds chasing the ball, and the coaches are more focused, but he really seemed to get it. He's bigger than anyone on his team, and this natural advantage also gives him speed.
He dribbles the ball well, which came naturally rather than as the result of any coaching I or anyone else did, and it allowed him to break away and score at least two goals (there may have been one more, but we weren't sure who scored it). Whenever they group up and both teams are trying to get the ball, he mostly just stands there waiting for the ball to pop out on its own, I guess, but then does a great job of going after it
He's funny when he scores, because he turns to us with a very serious face and thrusts his "thumbs up" sign at us. Elliot wanted to play so badly, it was hard to keep him off the field. We would kick the ball back and forth, turn to look at the game, and then find Elliot had run out onto the field.
On Saturday, we played his first game of the new season, now with Brookside Soccer, and suddenly Noah played like he knew what he was doing. It helps that it's 3-on-3 instead of two herds chasing the ball, and the coaches are more focused, but he really seemed to get it. He's bigger than anyone on his team, and this natural advantage also gives him speed.
He dribbles the ball well, which came naturally rather than as the result of any coaching I or anyone else did, and it allowed him to break away and score at least two goals (there may have been one more, but we weren't sure who scored it). Whenever they group up and both teams are trying to get the ball, he mostly just stands there waiting for the ball to pop out on its own, I guess, but then does a great job of going after it
He's funny when he scores, because he turns to us with a very serious face and thrusts his "thumbs up" sign at us. Elliot wanted to play so badly, it was hard to keep him off the field. We would kick the ball back and forth, turn to look at the game, and then find Elliot had run out onto the field.
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| Elliot trying to get in on the action. He's going limp and crying as Mandy picks him up. |
Friday, April 22, 2011
Soccer
A few weeks after Basketball at the Y ended, we started soccer. The YMCA sports programs are so short. Only twice a week for 3 weeks for a total of 6 sessions. Not nearly enough for Noah. He really enjoys and looks forward to going and it ends pretty fast. Every time we enroll him in a new sport he does a little better. I don't mean his athletic skills, which he is an athletic kiddo, but listening to his coach, paying attention, waiting in line, taking turns, being part of a team, etc.
He had his 4th session on Wednesday, which means his first game. The first 3 sessions are practices and the last 3 are games. I was so impressed with his ability to stay in the game and really pay attention. No dancing in circles or getting distracted wrestling with a teammate during a game. He really payed attention and did great! He also managed to make a new friend named Emerson. He informed me they were "friends forever" because they hugged. I think he was as excited about his new friend as he was playing soccer.
He had his 4th session on Wednesday, which means his first game. The first 3 sessions are practices and the last 3 are games. I was so impressed with his ability to stay in the game and really pay attention. No dancing in circles or getting distracted wrestling with a teammate during a game. He really payed attention and did great! He also managed to make a new friend named Emerson. He informed me they were "friends forever" because they hugged. I think he was as excited about his new friend as he was playing soccer.
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| His biggest fan, Elliot |
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| Warming up with some jumping jacks |
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| stretching |
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| more stretching |
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| Team "Blackjay Sunshine" huddle. Don't ask about the name. I don't get it, either. |
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| Woohoo! Right in on the action. |
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| Noah trying to stop the purple teams star player, #6. He made several goals that game. |
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| BOOYEAH! Noah was able to play good defense and stop a few of #6's goals. |
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| Looking lovingly at his new friend. |
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| Dribbling it down the field |
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| That #6 is at it again. |
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| Noah getting in front of #6 and stopping him |
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| When Noah came out of the game, Elliot was there with a hug waiting for him |
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| Noah's friend, Emerson is the girl on the left. They are all sitting on Emerson's mom's lap. |
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| Elliot always making friends wherever he goes. |
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| Go Noah! He almost made a goal a few times but #6 was always there |
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| Silly boy |
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| Elliot isn't the only one hugging Noah. |
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| AGAIN with #6. Do you see a pattern here? That kid didn't sit out the whole game. |
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| Go Noah! |
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| Ells & Dad |
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| Good game! |
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| Our little soccer star! |
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Bitty basketball
Noah recently completed his second season of basketball at the YMCA. “He’s better than he was the first season” is about as generously as you can put it. Noah loves it, even if he doesn’t completely understand the point of the game, or pay attention to you when you’re trying to explain it for that matter.
At his age, attention spans are short to begin with, and “organized sports” is somewhat of a misnomer. Beth, one of the managers at the Y, confided to me that the staff refers to it as “sperm ball” for the chaos and randomness that occurs after the whistle is blown. Even so, Noah stands out for his limited focus. If he’s on the bench, he’s goofing around with the kids around him. When he’s on the court, unless the coach is in his face telling him exactly what to do next, he could be dancing, he could be waving at us on the sidelines, or he could be staring at the wall. On rare occasions, he may actually be running with the herd as they stampede from one end of the court to another.
This is not to say he doesn’t have some good skills – he can dribble while walking, can shoot with some accuracy – even when they don’t lower the baskets from regulation height – and can get his arms up to play defense, but only if someone tells him to right that second.
Because he knows how to do all this physically, it has been surprisingly hard to lower my own expectations about his performance and just relax. I find myself telepathically trying to urge him to “Pay attention! Go after the ball! Shoot it!” I get anxious because I know he can do it, if only he’d pay attention (I probably sound like my mom, regarding schoolwork). I’m much better this second season, but it remains a difficult urge to control. I really don’t want to be “that guy”, the sports parent who berates his kid for not doing better and then berates his wife for telling him to calm down. We actually had one like that, and I feel for his kid long term.
If you can disregard your own projections for future college hoops success, it really is an amusing form of entertainment. Noah may not be the best, but he’s far from the worst. There are somewhere around 20 or 30 coaches and parents yelling things at the kids who, like Noah, barely know why they’re there. A basketball to the face will stop play as the injured party sobs mid-court. Teammates will wrestle the ball from each other, chase one another around the court and occasionally tackle if they have to. Dribbling may or may not be involved, and occasionally it evolves into a game of “keep away” rather than basketball. The kids find themselves under the basket with a “What now?” look on their face, with everyone in the gym shouting “Shoot! Shoot!” at them. Even at this age there are a few kids who are standouts, and are much better in dribbling, shooting and tracking the action. One kid even has a victory dance down when he scores, and it takes so long the action has long since moved on by the time he finishes. Even the customary end-of-game handshakes with the opposing team take a Herculean effort to organize and carry out.
The important thing is that Noah enjoys it, and proud of the medal he received. On to soccer...
At his age, attention spans are short to begin with, and “organized sports” is somewhat of a misnomer. Beth, one of the managers at the Y, confided to me that the staff refers to it as “sperm ball” for the chaos and randomness that occurs after the whistle is blown. Even so, Noah stands out for his limited focus. If he’s on the bench, he’s goofing around with the kids around him. When he’s on the court, unless the coach is in his face telling him exactly what to do next, he could be dancing, he could be waving at us on the sidelines, or he could be staring at the wall. On rare occasions, he may actually be running with the herd as they stampede from one end of the court to another.
This is not to say he doesn’t have some good skills – he can dribble while walking, can shoot with some accuracy – even when they don’t lower the baskets from regulation height – and can get his arms up to play defense, but only if someone tells him to right that second.
Because he knows how to do all this physically, it has been surprisingly hard to lower my own expectations about his performance and just relax. I find myself telepathically trying to urge him to “Pay attention! Go after the ball! Shoot it!” I get anxious because I know he can do it, if only he’d pay attention (I probably sound like my mom, regarding schoolwork). I’m much better this second season, but it remains a difficult urge to control. I really don’t want to be “that guy”, the sports parent who berates his kid for not doing better and then berates his wife for telling him to calm down. We actually had one like that, and I feel for his kid long term.
If you can disregard your own projections for future college hoops success, it really is an amusing form of entertainment. Noah may not be the best, but he’s far from the worst. There are somewhere around 20 or 30 coaches and parents yelling things at the kids who, like Noah, barely know why they’re there. A basketball to the face will stop play as the injured party sobs mid-court. Teammates will wrestle the ball from each other, chase one another around the court and occasionally tackle if they have to. Dribbling may or may not be involved, and occasionally it evolves into a game of “keep away” rather than basketball. The kids find themselves under the basket with a “What now?” look on their face, with everyone in the gym shouting “Shoot! Shoot!” at them. Even at this age there are a few kids who are standouts, and are much better in dribbling, shooting and tracking the action. One kid even has a victory dance down when he scores, and it takes so long the action has long since moved on by the time he finishes. Even the customary end-of-game handshakes with the opposing team take a Herculean effort to organize and carry out.
The important thing is that Noah enjoys it, and proud of the medal he received. On to soccer...
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| Grandpa Rick, who is an experienced coach, giving some shooting pointers |
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| dribbling |
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| Practicing some defense |
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| Sideline antics |
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| Showing us his medal after the last game of the season |
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| Noah's never had a very spontaneous smile in front of the camera. Somewhere we have a soccer team picture with this same deer-in-the-headlights look |
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| His more natural picture-taking face. |
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