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| Charlie, #55, jockeying for position |
WARNING: LOTS OF BRAGGING...Charlie is a Freshman at Skyline High School. He is a tall boy. :) I remember back to the beginning of his 8th grade year. I talked to his coach at Smith on the phone, and told him that Charlie was just under 6 feet tall. One year later, at the start of his 9th grade school year, Charlie was 6'4" tall. Luckily, the boy LOVES basketball, and that sport is a really good fit for him. Charlie had a really fun season playing basketball at Skyline. Because of a new rule this year, he was able to play 6 quarters a night. There are three teams: Freshman, JV and Varsity. All three teams play every night that there is a game (usually three nights a week). The Freshman play first at 4:00, then the JV play at 5:30, and Varsity play at 7:00pm.
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| Charlie, going for the rebound |
Charlie got lots of playing time this season--that's for sure! Playing 6 quarters a night, 3 times a week (on top of practicing every morning) is a lot of work! When you're growing as fast as Charlie is, your body is under stress already, then when you add in running and jumping, it gets to be exhausting! Charlie's tendons in his knees have been painfully sore for over a year now, and the condition is aggravated when he runs a lot. So most games, he would tape his knees before playing, and ice his knees after he got home.
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| Taking it to the hoop! |
Charlie was #55 on Freshman and JV. He split his regular season playing time between those two teams. He practiced with the JV team all season, but probably ended up playing more minutes with the Freshman team. Chuck really enjoyed watching Charlie's games. He went to every one--taking off early from work every game day (skipping lunch or going in early). Chuck kept track of Charlie's stats too, and made an Excel spreadsheet where he tracked all of Charlie's stats.
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| Shooting a free throw |
Charlie had lots of support at his games. I made it to all but 4 of his games (away games--when our other kiddos had piano lessons, NAL games, and other stuff going on). Family members made a special effort to be there to watch him play: Granddad, Granny, Aunt Megan and Uncle Joe all came to support him. Then some of our friends came to watch Charlie play too: Jackie Kennedy, Derek Wilcock, John Lewis, and Joey Flowers. Charlie's younger siblings attended several of his games too, so Charlie usually had a decent cheering section.
The basketball season was 18 games, but it was broken up by winter break, so it seemed to last a lot longer than that. Charlie became good friends with several of the other players, and always displayed good sportsmanship on the court. I was proud that Charlie was the first one there to help an opponent up, give a teammate encouragement, or go out of his way to chase a stray ball. His character shone through on and off the court.
Charlie's best game was at Red Mountain, where he played four quarters with the Freshman team and scored 25 points, with 20 rebounds!!! Skyline didn't have a winning season this year, but Charlie played hard, got lots of great experience, and loved every minute of it.
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| Charlie playing with Varsity |
Charlie was invited to play with the Varsity for some holiday tournament games, and he earned a letter for playing with them.
Skyline's Varsity team won their Holiday tournament. Here is Charlie with the trophy. At the basketball awards banquet, Charlie earned the "Strength of the Pack" award for the Freshmen. His teammates voted on MVP, best Defensive Player, and Strength of the Pack: Someone who embodies the team traits of Discipline, Dedication, and Determination. Along with the certificate, Charlie was awarded two tickets to a SUNS game the following night.
The three teams also voted every week on which player they felt embodied the character trait they were focusing on that week, such as "faith" or "strength". Charlie was voted by his team "Selfless." I was proud that his teammates all can see that character trait within him. It was such a fun season, and we all really enjoyed watching Charlie play. Charlie sleeps, eats and breathes basketball, so he loved the season too. During the last game of the season, Charlie really hurt his wrist, so Chuck took him to get x-rays. It wasn't broken, but the doctor told us that Charlie's growth plates haven't fused yet, so he is still growing. That isn't ideal for finding clothes to fit his long, skinny frame, and he already has to scrunch up to fit his long legs in the back seat of the Civic, but it is good news for his basketball career. Stay tuned... (:
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| Charlie with his teammates that were voted character awards and his coaches |
