It was a grand day last Saturday with Owen, Oliver and Ocean all playing in basketball games. Owen is a junior and a starter on the Tashkent International School varsity boys high school team. Grade 8 Oliver is on the junior varsity team and Grade 6 Ocean is on the middle school girls team. The joy of watching our children participate in interscholastic team sports was tinged with a bit of sadness. I wish my parents were alive to see them play. My mom and dad were avid supporters of youth sports and loved nothing better than to watch their children play sports. They would have been beaming with love and pride to see their grandchildren on the basketball floor.
Ocean was the hero of the day! She has played a lot growing up with two brothers and it showed on the court. At another game this week, she made the winning basket (see YouTube video above).
I love watching Oliver play. He plays with reckless abandon and loves to be physical. His happy-go-lucky attitude in life shows on the court and he truly enjoys the competition and camaraderie of being on a team. He has a big frame and uses it to his advantage.
Owen has a passion for sport and is an outstanding ball handler and rebounder. It is strange to have a left-handed son but I get so much pleasure from being around the team as an assistant coach and interacting with Owen and his teammates. I try to teach them the fundamentals of basketball and give them insights into how to win more games.
Interscholastic sports at international schools have not become intense like US public and private schools. It is a bit old-fashioned with practices 3 times per week and 10-15 games per season. I just want for my children to get the experience of playing on a team, learning the sport, deal with winning and losing and be active.
They have culminating Central Asia and Tashkent tournaments coming up next month and I will be blogging more and include highlights of Owen’s games.
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