Staley and Adelie just finished up with their basketball clinic that began in September and ran through the end of October. This was a once/week, hour long session where they worked on learning the fundamentals of basketball. The last two sessions of clinic they put their new skills to use by scrimmaging with the other girls in clinic.
Adelie struggled with most aspects of the game, but she had a good time and never got discouraged.
Dribbling was hard, passing was hard, and she never made a basket. However, she did hit the bottom of the rim on several occasions, so that was progress. During the scrimmage time, Adelie really didn't know what was going on or what she was supposed to do. Her coaches would tell her where to stand and she would never move until it was time to run to the other end of the court. Of course, she is only 5 and she was definitely on par with some of the other Kindergarten girls out there.
Staley, however, made vast improvements from last year. She was much more proficient at dribbling and passing, although was still a little hesitant about catching passes that were thrown to her. She also made multiple baskets each session. She never shot during a scrimmage, but she seemed to enjoy defense and did steal the ball on one or two occasions.
Both girls have said that they want to play basketball again next year. Adelie will get to do basketball clinic again while Staley will move up to playing actual games. She is very excited about that.
Basketball clinic was a success. It wasn't very time consuming, but gave the girls an introduction to a sport I love and gave them opportunities to learn and grow and decide if basketball is a sport they enjoy.
At least for now, that answer is yes!
