We are the Champions!

After four seasons and four teams, we did it! We , the Gryphons, were finally declared the season champions for Fountain Valley Recreation Center Division C (ages 9 – 10 year old)! 

 

 

With three games left in the season, Brandon fractured his wrist.  He was not doing anything exciting or dangerous.  He just walked from his room to his brother’s room one morning, and he tripped over his own feet.  I received a call from Mia while at work, and all I could hear was Brandon screaming in the background.  Brandon and Mia stay with Dylan in the morning for a few hours.  This allows them to sleep in a bit while we leave for work by 7 a.m. every morning.  Dylan wakes up, feeds them a bowl of cereal, and walks them to my sister’s house.  I didn’t know what was going on, and I had Mia put a very drowsy Dylan on the phone.  I asked Dylan if he thought I needed to come home or was Brandon’s injury a dramatization? Dylan said it looked bad.  I went home, and it was very swollen.  A visit to the ER later, and it was determined he had fractured his wrist. 

Brandon is our 2^nd best basketball player in terms of skill.  However, in terms of leadership, maturity, and strategy, he is the best player on the team.  Losing him created an uphill challenge.  He gave the team balance and leadership. With Brandon on the team, we won every game by 10 points or more.  In fact, we had to slow the games down because our lead was too high.  Without Brandon, we barely won two of the games, and our undefeated record was broken because we lost our first game.  Since Dylan is an employee at the Rec Center, he told me it was the BIG Talk of the day by all the other players.  The Gryphons lost! There was disbelief and shock.  When Brandon walked into the gym with a cast on, one of the coaches of the team we were versing had a huge smile on her face.  Yes, she could not hide her excitement that she may possibly win now without Brandon.  Normally, this coach is just nasty, but she was all smiles at the beginning of the game. (They lost by one point.)

Even with the loss, we were the Division C champions, and we received our first place trophy. 

Champions, Division C - Gryphons

three girls on the team

proudly showing their trophy

Lance with his first place trophy and his appreciation trophies for previous years

This is the first and only time that the entire family was able to participate.  Mia is too young to play with Brandon, and she will never play again with him.  The Recreation Center made an exception this one time.  Mia never scored a basket in the season even though we tried to give her as many assist as possible.  I remind her that she isn't supposed to be playing yet, and that these kids are two years older than her. 

 

Dylan and Lance will continue to coach Brandon. There are three divisions at Fountain Valley: Division C, B, A.   I love Dylan’s analogy.   Dylan said, “I’m going to coach Brandon until he retires.  Division C is high school basketball.  He is moving now to college basketball, Division B, before he hits Division A, the NBA.”  

 

We didn’t plan on it, but this basketball has become a huge, fun part of our family. We enjoy the Friday night and Saturday morning games.  We enjoy the pizza parties. We enjoy the new friends we make and the kids we see grow.  Lance has become known in the community by parents and childre.  Several kids have told us that they are going to request him as a coach next year.  We have already discussed recruitment for our next team.  Dylan has enjoyed coaching and he loves his job.  He has started to referee games.  Some of the girls on the Gryphons developed crushes on Dylan.  At the end of every season, they have a coaches vs. staff game, and though Dylan wears both hats, he played on the staff team.  He was so aggressive. I didn’t even recognize him.  It was the best I had ever seen him play.

 

It is sad that the season ended, but I’m looking forward to January when winter season begins.  It is much more competitive, and the winter league champions continue in playoffs against other cities.  Hopefully, we can keep our title.  Go Gryphons!