sports rant

So, I rarely post about my other kids, because there is rarely anything to say. Last night K had a basketball game. She plays on JV. Now I was there for the whole game. There was a lot of passing, including a number of times when the girls passed the ball to the phantom player who is nameless, and the ref.

I am not saying the K is a basketball goddess or anything, but as a freshman who is trying, I think that she rates more than a minute of play. Yep, let me repeat that. She got to play for one whole minute at the end of the game.

Now, our team lost by like 6 points or something. But, they had 4 girls from the varsity squad playing in a JV game, against a JV team and lost. So I told the coach I wanted to meet with her.

I began the conversation by telling coach I wasn't a basketball player and couldn't begin to understand the game. But I also said that I believed one of two things.

1. She can't control who she plays.
2. K doesn't have the skills to play JV.

Her response is that K doesn't have the skills. So now, K is a freshman. What motivation is there for her to continue playing? What motivation is there for any of the girls to play? The main girls who played last night, all have family names in the town that we live in. They have money, name recognition or a family member who is considered a sports god in this town. We are a poor family who has not lived in this town for two or three generations, so we aren't the elite. K isn't 7 foot tall. Size isn't her strong suit. What does she have? She has heart.

Last year a girl quit the squad because she was blamed for the loss of a game. The whole game rested on this one young ladies shoulders. Wasn't she part of a team?

These girls play with knees and ankles that are in braces or taped. What are we teaching our girls? K lives eats and breathes basketball. Coach said that she is strong for the c squad, but since not many teams in our conference have a C squad she won't get a lot of playing time. It seems to me that playing in a game is not the same as practice. Coach said that in practice, K needs to give more effort. So I told K, in the presence of the coach, that in practice, none of the girls are her friends. I don't advocate quitting. But I do believe in fairness. Is it all about winning or is it about team work and being part of a team?

I don't like to be an ass to people. But, it seems to me that most teen females have self esteem issues anyway. Why push them down when we should be lifting them up?