An Unexpected Basketball Season

Jordan played basketball with extra intensity this year.

We all carry a lot of assumptions in our life based on the perceptions we’ve gathered as we grow up. Every once and a while, those perceptions change. Mine changed while watching Jordan talking to a student journalist about basketball.

Through the years, Jordan has grown incredibly fond of basketball. She loves playing aggressive defense and she always wants to score the basket. This year is Jordan’s third year playing on a team. For the first time, she had a chance to play on a team with her twin best friends from our old neighborhood. (You know, the one we moved away from last summer that’s only a mile away.)

Many members of our team this year are new to the game. They are the coolest group of girls. Each teammate is kind, supportive and so much fun. Jordan has loved playing with them. They haven’t won a game this season and it is very possible they won’t. Each and every time the team plays, the team improves. I’m SO impressed. What’s really amazing? The team is really learning and not dwelling on the losses.

Jordan has had a tough time with offense. She’s brutal on defense. She’s a great one-on-one defender, knows how to launch a solid screen and can steal the ball really well. But this season, scoring the ball was harder. I’m thrilled she made a basket recently, and I know it gave her a huge boost in confidence. She CAN do it!

And then there’s that conversation Jordan had with the student journalist. She was asked if playing basketball is more difficult compared to kids with two hands. Jordan responded with a statement that was so simple but to me, it was perception-changing. She told her: “I don’t think it’s harder. I’ve never had two hands.”

I love it. All these years, I’ve watched her do so many things that I never imagined Jordan could do. But I never told Jordan I didn’t think she could do it… And because Jordan doesn’t have a preconceived notion of what is possible with one hand, she just does it. She doesn’t think it’s harder.

I know this basketball season hasn’t gone as planned, but I’m thrilled to see Jordan continuing to play, learn and get a lot out of the experience. We are trying to decide if we Jordan wants to find more opportunities to play beyond her winter sport activity and attending Nubability Camp in the summer. Basketball remains Jordan’s focus sport at that camp.

I love having an active kid. I’m lucky we are able to juggle her different sports and activities as she decides what is her favorite. I’m also so lucky to have two kids who change my perceptions from time to time.