Thanks a lot, Pat. I’m sitting here trying to work and instead I’m wiping tears that are streaking down my cheeks.
A few weeks ago, we had our last home games for Junior Varsity. There were two boys on the team who hadn’t scored yet (they hadn’t gotten tons of playing time this season, which is only nice in that it means we had a lot of close games that we actually won!). So this, our last home game, Paul put them in the game.
You could tell the boys on the team were focused on getting the ball to those boys. A few minutes in, one of the point guards passed the ball to William. He shot that ball and…SCORED! I think it may have been a three. The gym went nuts. I looked across the court to see Paul (William’s dad) standing up with his arms raised in the air. I was standing next to my mom and we both had tears welling up in our eyes. His victory was his dad’s victory was the entire home team’s victory.
The other boy, Tim, came in after that. The boys fed him the ball and he probably took about six or seven shots. He didn’t end up scoring, but I don’t really feel like that diminished all the love that was just pouring out of the stands for that kid. I know that sounds hokey but I don’t care. Everyone was chanting “Tim! Tim! Tim!” and I was proud to be a part of a school that knew exactly who that kid was and how badly they wanted him to score.
Sports can be so awesome, y’all.
Absolutely beautiful. Now you have me crying, too.
WAAAHHHH :*)
Thanks, Rachel!! Passing the tears on to me! so glad you shared it!!!
WAH!!!!!!!! So beautiful!
I saw that video several days ago – I think it’s gone viral on Facebook. I’ve watched it 4 or 5 times, shown it to my husband and my boys. And reposted it. I’ve cried every time I’ve watched it. I pray that I’m raising my boys to have that much charity and heart.
At my daughter’s last game I noticed something funny about the tip. It’s either Kate or my daughter doing the jump. That day it was Kate. She didn’t even seem to try for the ball. The other team got the ball and passed it down the court to a teammate that was under the basket. It wasn’t until after her shot went in that I noticed that her other arm was in a cast. She was a senior and broke her arm right before the start of the season. That’s right. She spent her entire senior year on the sidelines. It really made me cry. Until they started whooping up on us. Then not so much…
Tim’s Mom weighing in . . .
The scene at our basketball game was something to watch, and several funny things happened after the game.
First, Rachel’s oldest son, Ethan, was named MVP at the end of our tournament. He came up to Tim after the game, held out the trophy and said, “Really, Tim, this should go to you.”
“Yeah?” Tim asked.
“Uh . . . no,” Ethan said, shaking his head.
And they both laughed.
A few days later I was asking Tim about the varsity team which, to put a positive spin on it, is in a building year.
“Why haven’t they won more games,” I asked Tim.
“Most of our best players are freshmen or sophomores,” he told me “But we are so good. In a year or two, we’re going to rock. We are, like, great athletes.”
I was surprised by the reflexive way Tim used first person plural – we, and not third person plural – they.
“Does it ever bother you that you’re not as good at sports as some of the other boys,” I asked.
“Nah, I’m amazingly gifted in lots of other ways,” he informed me without the slightest trace of irony.
“No self-esteem issues, huh, Tim?”
“Uh . . . no.”
They video? I bawled.
Let me clarify what Ethan said to Tim. It was a lighthearted poke, kind of brotherly, no harm intended, no harm taken. And the word the is actually spelled the.
For me the best part of this story is not only were Mitchel’s teammates passing him the ball, but the young men on the other team understood what was going on and made the magic happen.
Thank you for sharing. I love to see stories like this, and hear about great coaches who really get it. My husband is one of those, he coaches soccer and often, when the team is up by 2, he will let his boys know, nobody is allowed to take a shot until insert name scores a goal. He always knows who hasn’t scored yet in the season, or who needs a morale boost. His team is pretty good, and they are very competitive, but they also have heart. I am in awe of the mother of the boy from that other team, what a great job she did raising a compassionate young man.