2013 the update

So, it's been like 2 years since I updated!  Corey hates all sports (although she does still talk about karate on occasion.)  She is now into vocal music and drama.  She was in Macbeth and Hairspray this summer.  She was amazing (as was the entire cast).

Amory loves baseball.  He'd played football every year since 2nd grade and has now decided not to.  Instead he's playing fall baseball.  Should be a good experience for him and I can see it helping him in the spring!

wow

It's been a whole year since I came on here venting about that team that CHEATS. They did in fact play 12u. The good news is we beat them. The bad news is NONE of their 13s showed up for the game. I am thinking it was because they KNEW I'd be frustrated, but I honestly don't think those 3 girls would have made a difference. It's more the point. I still am thinking of getting the patches from LL saying "I don't cheat". My daughter wants them.

Ok, so what's up for this year? We are still recruiting for this season. Have a decent core group of girls, we just need to build on it. We are playing 14u this year since the girl is born in 1997. Honestly, of the returning players, she's the only one that HAS to play up, but guess what, we don't cheat. We hope to get more 97s though. I'd like to keep a solid group together. We've been practicing for a month now. Good indoor stuff.

The boy? He did basketball, loved the group he played with, did well. Now, he was looking for a team to play on for baseball. We lucked out. A friend suggested him to their son's coach and he got picked up without a tryout. He's happy and less stressed! He will be playing for the Heat. He's ready. We need to get him back to his pitching lessons though. Too much sitting around.

Now, if the weather would be good, we'd get outside and play!

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.

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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.