frustrations

So, I'm frustrated. I decided to help out on the board of directors for LGFPA (Lawrence Girls Fastpitch Association). Sounds good in theory. Should be fun and I want to continue to grow the league. Within a few days of being on this governing committee, I find out there is a 12u team that is playing kids that aren't 12u. So, thinking it was my responsibility, I asked about the rules. I'm informed that it' not allowed to play down. The Parks and Rec people ask me what team I'm talking about and call and ask about it. Either they told the coach it was me, or the coach figured it out that it was me that asked about the ages. Either way, I'm the one causing issues. Not the ones who are cheating YES CHEATING by trying to play girls that aren't eligible. I get a call from the league saying it's taken care of and wondering what my "history" was with this coach. Apparently I have "history" with them. I didn't know I did. But, it's taken care of.

So, forward to today. I go to the coaches' meeting and that same coach is still sitting with a 12u team. I didn't even ask about it. I just left it alone. Supposedly it's dealt with. But, now I'm at home and stewing. I try to be reasonable, but now my kid is involved. They apparently told their players that I was causing issues for them. Their players then go to school and tell the girl, "We heard what your mom did to us." When Corey asked what they were talking about they told her it didn't matter because they were allowed to play the 13s anyway. So, they either lied to Parks and Rec or their players, or something. Or, Parks and Rec lied about the age thing being strict. It's NOT cool, regardless.

Summer sports

Well, Kenny (he's the dad) had his teams first softball practice. Only 4 guys were there, so I got to play in the outfield a bit and Corey got to catch (it's slow pitch, she hates catching, but it's not REAL catching so it's ok.) Anyway, they were still rusty, but Kenny got hit in the face. He's ok now a week out. By the way, I need to get out and run. I'm so out of shape. (That may be pushed back because of a sprained ankle from playing kickball with a group of kids).

Corey's softball team that I coach had two practices/tryouts. We have finally found enough girls. Some have never played before, but looked good raw. I'm sure with some coaching, they will be good little ball players. We had to cancel this week's practice due to SNOW. That was a first for me!

Amory has found a baseball team to play with this summer. They are scheduled for their first practice on Monday. Who knows how that will go. The boy has decided he wants to pitch next year. I am trying to encourage pitching lessons for that. I know the basics and that's IT. He will definitely need the extra help.

Really bad

Since I last posted, we've gone through a million seasons it seems. Most recently, Amory finished basketball. He had a great time. I think if he sticks with it, he could be a mad man on defense. Of course, he's not afraid to throw his body around. The rules for his league is basically man to man defense, but his coach told him to get in the middle and basically play zone. It worked out because he would step out if they were looking like they would shoot. He is only 8 and not going to be a star but he had fun, and makes a great contribution to his team. (On the other had, there were some amazingly talented 8 year olds out there, should be fun to watch them as they get older).

Before that was football for the boy. Lawrence has a nice youth football league. I had Amory play for the Lightning, and I think it was the best fit for him. The coaches were amazing and even though Amory thought it was hard, he had a ton of fun and so far wants to play again next year. I hope to get him to do some running when he can get outside more. That's where he struggles. He's a big kid and has little endurance for running.

Before that, there was softball and baseball. Karate was almost an afterthought this summer since for the first time, I coached the girls' softball team. We had a diverse team of 12u girls, and we did ok. We played some amazing games and lost a few we should have won, but that's how it goes. Next year will be even better. Corey says softball is her sport (even though I'm not letting her quit karate, and wish she'd get interested in other sports to help her in the off season). Amory played his first year of baseball and it was coach pitch. He loved it. He went to spring break camp at KU for baseball, and we are looking at some of the other camps for this year. I have no idea what this summer will bring him baseball wise. The team he played on is moving up and he's not really ready to move up to 9u yet. He could be if he was focused, but he's not and that's ok.

Anyway, hopefully I can get back into posting more!

Seriously

it's been about two months since I posted in here. Amory and Corey both finished their ball seasons at the beginning of July. I have pictures I will put in this post. Corey took the summer off of karate and Amory ended up getting burned out, so he took the rest of the summer off. I am going on my own, which is kinda nice since I don't have to worry about the boy, but kinda weird because it IS a children's group. Oh well, the kids there are all great. Tonight is graduation/demo but only a few people tested over the summer session, and while I was one, I don't think I did great. That was to be expected, but I wanted to try.

Now, on to Fall. Both kids are being weird about what to do this fall. Last year, Amory did basketball and Corey was mad when I didn't sign her up. Well, this year, they are both saying no. Amory is leaning a bit towards going back to gymnastics, but has asked about going to swim team. He's not quite good enough yet, but we will work on it. Corey has said no to everything. I'm strongly encouraging her to go back to karate though. She's really good at it, and likes it a lot. She just likes to sit around, but actually enjoys herself when we make her go to things. We'll see.

Clickable thumbnails

So

We are in full swing with softball and t-ball. So far we have been lucky without missing too much of each kids' games. Tonight, Corey has a game at 7:30 and Amory has practice at 7, but we'll work that out. Seriously can't wait until next year when Amory plays real ball. We'll be on the go constantly. I already had one mom ask me about dcaba and if we were going that route. I am sure we will. Amory really likes games and dcaba has more games than parks and rec and they are more competitive.

Corey's loving softball. She's doing well. Next year, I guess we are doing a team. Should be fun.

Sports insanity

Well, if you know me, I like to keep the kids busy.

Amory LOVED indoor soccer. He plans to play again next year and of course he still wants to play basketball next year. They do have a summer league for basketball, but the games are all during the day while we are at work. He's thought about taking gymnastics again, but he's not too sure.

Since I posted last, he's been in karate once a week and just started t-ball. Hopefully, he'll get some maturity about following directions soon. In his karate class, he's learned quite a bit. He knows enough to move up a belt rank I think, but sadly he didn't do it. At testing, some of the things he just refused to do, and then some things he was not allowed to do because of his behavior. It's always been the policy to not let them test if they are not behaving. I knew this, I thought my boy did. So, at graduation night, he was very disappointed when he did not get his belt. He told me he was dropping karate if people keep kicking him out of testing. Of course, he believes it's all Sensei James' fault that he didn't move up. Hopefully I can get him calm enough to sign up again this week and to realize that all he has to do is maintain for an hour a week! Seriously, he needs a new belt. His old one is too small! T-ball has started and Amory thinks it's great. His dad who has been taking him to practice however, thinks it's horrible. Apparently, 14 kindergarten boys running around with bats is just not Kenny's idea of fun. I don't know, I can't wait for the game though. Should be hilarious.

Corey has been doing karate and softball. She's still thinking of dance and gymnastics a little bit, especially now that her old gym is reopen. In karate, she was disappointed too. She moved up, but not as far as she wanted to. She however, realizes that she didn't know all the stuff that she needed and has decided to work on that this summer. Hopefully, I can get her to teach me the purple belt katas because I don't know them very well, and she does. She had a hard time with one steps and self defense, so I can help her with those. (I earned my purple belt this last graduation. She is still ahead of me with her purple belt/orange stripe.) Anyway, softball. What can I say about that? She was so against it for awhile and I didn't know why. Finally, it comes out that she didn't care for the coaching on one team. This year though, she's having a blast. Her coach is amazing. They won their first game, but lost their second. But, I'm really happy to see how Corey is improving in both skill and attitude. She's come a long way. I'm nervous for next year, but still, it should be fun for this year. Her team is called the Rebels and they are purple. Pictures WILL be coming soon!

soccer pictures

Here's warm ups. It's funny how excited Amory gets even though the game hasn't even started.








Hanging out on the bench



finally some action


Flirting with H on the bench. He likes the bench for socializing


But, he likes the bench to watch the game. Here he's cheering H on a saved goal.


The monkey runs



walking back to be a defender (loves defending)


Next game, loves the goalie slot. Of course he loves to fall down, so that helps.




I love this one because you can see him getting ready to throw it out of the goal and the coach is telling them to get back.


Flirting on the bench again. This time a different girl.

Another sport filled post

So, what's up these days?

We've recently become less busy. Why? Did the kids give up sports? No. Sadly, the place they did gymnastics is closed. They had the option to go clear across town, but I wasn't ok with that. They could have chosen parks and rec or just take a break. Both are taking a break right now. So Amory may never be a KU yell leader.

Amory started his soccer career this weekend though. He is playing indoor soccer for the first time. His practices are on Wednesdays just like karate so he's busy that night. At his game, he did well running, but then acted like he was going to die after he ran the ball in. He also played goalie. That is something he does well. He likes throwing himself on the ground.

Amory has decided to learn his kata so he can try for his blue belt. I think I know most of my kata to earn my purple. Time will tell how we do. Corey is hoping to get her orange belt. THAT is major. So far in class, I've had a 7th grader whine about not being able to do stuff and then a 4th grader flip me. Fun stuff.

Anyway, sign up for softball has come out. Hope that Corey's on the team she wants.

karate testing

Karate testing has begun. In the higher belts, they start with kata and one step testing a week before the regular testing. During regular testing you need to know strikes, blocks, kicks, and self defense. Friday night was kata and one steps. Kata is called form in tae kwon do. It's a series of moves in a specific order. One steps are little things like an acted out fight. One guy throws a punch and the other person has a set of moves to counter it. For the test I was doing there is only one kata and 3 one steps. (Corey has 6 one steps and 2 katas since she's a higher belt). Let me just say, Corey always says how hard testing is. In the past I told her "yeah, I know but you know the stuff. Blah blah blah." Well, it IS hard no matter how well you know it before you get there. For example, I did my kata WRONG the first time. I didn't even know I messed up. The girl that was doing the testing said, "I've seen you do it right. Try again." So I did and I passed, thankfully. You only get one do over by her rules. Then on to one steps WHICH I practiced over and over. Well, I almost lost it up there. My memory went blank! But, I fought through it and passed all those. Well, when we were done with these we could do merit badge stuff. For my belt there is Dojo etiquette, uniform, and fitness. Dojo etiquette is a breeze. Yes and no sir/ma'am, please/thank you, proper bowing, sitting, attention stance, that stuff. Uniform, easy - fold your uniform, tie your belt stuff like that. Fitness about killed me though. I'm so out of shape, but getting better. 25 push ups, 25 sit ups, 25 jumping jacks, 15 squat thrusts, 10 stretches. I decided to do pushups first because I wouldn't be able to do them without ALL my energy. Amazingly, I passed! I can still feel the situps though. But, know I know how Corey feels at testing. She passed her first kata. She doesn't think she got any of her one steps though. Hopefully she moves up a bit though. Of course, if I skip all the belts I want to skip, I'll probably be only inching forward a bit at a time. Amory has decided to not test. He said he doesn't know his kata and he doesn't know his one steps. Plus, he has basketball on Wednesday that he'd rather go to.

Basketball and Karate

Well, kindergarten basketball is going on now. THAT is a riot. The kids have so much fun and are really enjoying it. Amory is loving every second of the games. He says that practice is even better. He's a scoring and rebounding machine. He's not so good at defending though. His favorite thing is dribbling though. He's great at it.









We just got back from karate tournament. Both kids participated. Amory won a trophy for fastest kick. He got 1st place in his group. He loves getting the runner up medals. You should have seen him with his trophy though. That kid was pumping that trophy into the air over and over. I'll post a pic sometime. Corey did ok. She tries so hard, but only wants to do things her way. That's alright though, it's all about learning.

What are we up to now?

Well, both kids ARE doing karate. Amory had said he was going back for his jedi training, but then he started acting weird. Well, he's back with a vengeance. He's loving it and practicing it, but he still lacks the focus in class. I'm sure it will get there eventually though. Corey is loving it too. The new thing is that parents can take the class. Well, fortunately or unfortunately, I can't take the white belt class. But, I want to take class. So, I'm taking it on Friday with Corey. It's the advance class, and honestly, it kicks my butt. I'm out of shape plain and simple. Oh well, it's good for me and I'm having fun, it's a great bunch of kids. Yeah, I'm the only adult. On Wednesdays, one lady was doing it, but she didn't like being the only adult and changed her mind. I have been trying to get the other parents to try it out, but they aren't.

Both kids are back in gymnastics too. Amory wasn't sure about that either. He ended up being the only kid in his class last week. He had so much fun without waiting his turn. He didn't gain any social skills, but his motor skills did get worked. Corey seemed to have fun. Her friends from last year weren't in this class. She's signed up for intermediate class, but I think they combined it with beginner because there were some kids really struggling and some that were really good. She's right in the middle. Our gym joined up with another gym here in town. I never cared for the other place, but we'll see how it goes. So far, it's looking good. The main thing I don't like is the logo of the place. They used to be g-force jets and have a cool jet picture logo. Now they are Lawrence Gymnastics and Athletics East. It's just some random squiggle line that represents like a person jumping or something. Oh well, as long as the kids like it.

Amory will be starting basketball soon. This will be his first team sport. We'll see how he does. I'll definitely post pictures when that happens. Corey wanted to do it, but I just didn't sign her up. She quit softball, I was just worried about that. I'll try to get her in something else though.

Small update.

So, I haven't updated in over a month. Is it because we weren't doing anything? No, of course not. We did finish up the summer softball season. They had a lot of fun this year and improved so much. We just ended the summer session of karate. Corey moved up to purple belt/white stripe. A small step, but a step none-the-less. She also got patches for tonfa and fan. She had to write papers as the main thing for this, and then demonstrate how to use it. We left there and she was the only one to get patches for the weapons. I told her it was because her mom was mean and made her do the papers. She agreed, but said that it was a good thing I was so mean or she wouldn't have gotten them. I guess she at least knows WHY sometimes parents are mean.

Well, in the past month, Corey thought about doing football. I told her it was her choice, but that it's everyday except Monday. That would mean nothing else. She couldn't decide. Then we got info on a softball tryout for the fall. She decided this was something she wanted to do. Well, that ruled football out. I guess we found something she liked better. I'm kinda happy because football is such a huge commitment and what if she hated it. Anyway, the softball stuff is going well. It's funny, they were only practicing/tryouts for about an hour and I saw improvement already. This should be good.

Karate starts back in the first week of September. So does gymnastics. We'll be running again soon!

Karate tournament

Well, it was a good one. Corey participated in strongest punch, strongest kick, fast fist, fastest kick, and sparring. I think she got ripped off in sparring. The rule is that it's single elimination if there is more than 4 kids. Well, in this case there were 5 kids. That means the first person to lose was gone. Sure, they may be better than the other kids that were in there, but you will never know. So, she looked good and it was a close match. But, sadly she lost and was eliminated. She got a runner up trophy. Oh well, better luck next time. (and she better sit at the back of the line!)

It went quickly this summer and she had fun and that's what matters.

Amory wanted to be in tournament so much. He is now ready to go back because he's planning to take a weapons kata to tournament. (It's part of his jedi training)

Last game tonight

Hope they have fun. They are playing a team from the upper division and I KNOW this team is hard. Anyway, Corey had a chance to go to tournament again, but she chose to go to her karate tournament. Should be fun.

More softball and stuff

Well, Corey's team played their first ever tournament last weekend. They won their second game and did very well against some teams that were just bigger and more experienced.


Team warming up





Anyway, Corey pitched again for a little bit. The girls got a bunch of experience. They played 3 games the first day and one the next and were wiped out, but I think they had a lot of fun. I got a lot of SUN. I'm peeling now.

Pitching

Corey has been wanting to pitch really bad. She finally got her chance the other day. She loved it and did great!





She can't wait to try again. Tonight, she was the catcher.

Summer is here

CK has had her first two softball games with tonight being their third. Hope they win this one! She's having a blast and the team looks awesome! Corey played right field and 3rd base last night.

Well, prior to the first game, they had a Wednesday night practice much to her disappointment. Well, we worked it out for her to go to karate and softball both that night. She ended up getting her purple belt. She also did kata with the group in front of all the parents!! Rock on!

KATA TESTING!

So, the Corey had kata and one step testing on Friday. She had 6 one steps to know, and I think she got 3.5 so not too bad. She also needed to retest for her green belt kata and then her blue belt kata. She got them!! BOTH! Her patches are on her top already. She is so proud and excited. Now, let's see what happens next.

fun stuff

It's that time of year when you can't sit still. Too bad the weather didn't figure it out. Monday, both kids had gymnastics. No big deal until you throw in the fact that Corey also had softball scheduled at the same time as her class. I wasn't smart enough to tell her to go to early class. (That's what one of her team mates and fellow aspiring gymnast did). However, we got a call canceling practice due to cold! It's APRIL! Oddly, we'd skipped our previous practice the Thursday before because it was around the freezing point and Monday was quite a bit warmer. Oh well. Wednesday was karate, thankfully indoors. And Thursday was softball and again COLDER. We went there and I'd say it was a hair above freezing. All I know is that Amory and I played on the play stuff while we were waiting and I thought I'd shiver to my death. Amory is doing AWESOME at throwing and catching. We took our gloves out and played for a bit. Corey's softball skills are far from perfect, but guess what, she's hustling! I think that will make a huge difference. Then finally on Friday, Corey had karate. She's getting better at her kata all the time, but still refuses to test. The good news is that she asked to get the curriculum and wants to practice. I think she is wanting to skip belts. Good luck with that!

karate tournament

Well, Corey went to tournament. Actually, we all WENT, but Corey participated. She chose to do only 4 events. That's fine, we got home EARLY. She did strongest punch, strongest kick, fastest punch, and fastest kick. She didn't place real high in anything, but this year she didn't freak out. So, she did well in that respect. I asked her if she did her best and tried her best, and she said she did. That's all we can ask for.

One thing that pissed me off was that there was a man behind me yelling at his youngest son because he couldn't sit still in the stands while they were waiting. Guess what, NONE of the younger siblings could sit still. MOST parents knew that before hand, so we packed activities for the little ones. Not this family, they just yelled. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was when his older boy was competing, there was a small issue. His boy was NOT performing to the level that dad thought he should. Get this, the kid had THREE girls beat him. Honestly, this competition is supposed to be fun, each kid at least medals. I think as they get older, it MIGHT be harder for a girl to win (in fact in the older age divisions, there weren't many girls winning, but there also weren't many girls participating.) However, technique will win the "strongest" events. Now, if they are all using the same strike, sure the bigger guy will win. At nine all the kids are around the same size. The kids that won were the ones that did a better strike. I'm sure this poor boy was in trouble the whole way home. Oh, and it didn't matter to dear old dad that the kid was a green belt going against other kids of higher belt rank. MAYBE those kids that had been a green belt for awhile or even blue belts had a better technique.

Oh, and a parent of a child I know, I could see the parent getting on the kid's case. Little brother had been winning all his events. Guess what, IT GETS HARDER as you get older. Some kids get bigger faster, some kids learn new techniques. It just happens, and then there is the fact that the groups for the older kids are HUGE. Of course, they have this trade up system and if you get four first place trophies, you can trade for one tournament champion trophy and then you can also trade 2 of those trophies for 1 GRAND Tournament trophy. This family has all the boys put all their trophies together to get the tournament trophies. Poor kid wasn't pulling his weight.