Knee Pads Save the Day!

The Squirrel had her first Barron Basketball Tournament on Saturday in Chippewa Falls. We have been practicing for about three weeks with our 16 fourth grade girls. Because of the large number of girls, we have divided them into two teams for tournament play. I coach one team, with Jamie as my "assistant", and one of the other dads coaches the other team. My team, the RED team, played in the morning at the McDonnell High School. We played 3 other teams, and our team did really well against the first team, were schooled by the second team, and played fair against the third team. We know what we will be working on at our next practice!

~~~

Abby, Jamie, and I went to watch our other fourth grade girls play at Parkview Elementary, also in Chippewa, in the afternoon. This was after we ate lunch at Pizza Hut with Grandma Deb and Grandpa Ken, and made a quick run to the Oakwood Mall in EC for some knee pads. It seems the Squirrel spends a great deal of time on her knees during games, diving for balls and, well, falling! She has huge bruises on her knees, and spent time sitting on the bench with ice packs on her knees in pain during the morning tournament. Poor little Squirrel...

~~~

As we entered the gym for the afternoon tournament, we discovered that two of the girls on the WHITE team had called in sick, and they only had one sub on the bench! Abby got to try out her new knee pads sooner than we expected when she played all three games in the afternoon tournament, as well! I am happy to report that she says they work really good, and she didn't cry once in the afternoon games! YEAH!

~~~

Because I wasn't coaching the afternoon tournament, I was able to take a few pics. Here is the Squirrel in action...

~~~

Abz (25) shoots for two!

~~~

Number 25 taking it to the basket!
~~~
Another shot for the Squirrel!
We had a fun day of basketball, but I can say that all three of us (Jamie, Abz, and myself) were exhausted when the day was done!
~~~
Go, BEARS!