Basketdancing

Here he sits on the bench with his teammates as they prepare to play basketball. I love his little legs, dangling.

Rec basketball for little kids, in this case kids who are four, five and six, is pretty much how you might imagine it would be if you have any experience with kids that age. A lot of running back and forth. A lot of the running seems aimless, although a pack mentality does kick in, so the kids generally run in the same direction. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. There is a fair amount of the word "EEK!" and running away when the ball or a player gets too close to the youngest kids.

There is no such thing as traveling.

There is no such thing as double-dribbling.

Heck, there is barely regular old dribbling.

Two or three kids on the court can shoot the ball. Tops. Same number have a clue about defense.

None of this matters. It's all in the service of being social and physical and having fun, and for the most part it is a success. From the very first game it's been a blast watching Kiernan run up and down the court, blissfully unaware that he needed to do anything to help his team. His team actually does pretty well, scoring higher than the other team more often than not (this is a sense I have, rather than an actuality, as at this level, the "Rookie" level, they don't keep score...fine with me). This is a decent feat, considering that when Kiernan is on the court it's basically a game of three on four.

This is not to say Kiernan is not athletic. Oh, he is. He's an energetic and excited force of nature, but none of this power is directed at the basket. From the first game he could run pell-mell from one end of the court to the other. The only thing is that while the other kids glom on the ball or ball carrier, Kiernan stakes out a position well off to the side and dances.

In the last couple of games, however, he has established a role on his team, that of designated Thrower-Inner. He's the youngest little dude on his team, so he can't do much (bless his heart), but his coach keyed in early on that he could throw the ball two feet. Therefore...he could throw the ball in. And throw the ball in he does. With a vengeance now. Kiernan sprints to the ref the moment it is time to throw the ball in, most of the time without being told now. He gets that this is his role, and he goes about throwing that ball in with gusto. He still avoids all other contact with the ball, but he can throw that thing in.

In the last game he showed a different improvement: First Line of Defense. His coach has gotten him to stop dancing off to the side on most defensive plays. Now he will stand up at the top of the key with his arms up in a defensive stance. He's great at this. He will stand at the top of the key with his arms up, defending. no matter what else is going on. All seven other kids (it's a game of four-on-four) might be clustered under the basket, scrapping for the ball, and Kiernan will be up near half court with his arms up, defending phantoms. Great stuff. I love it.

The best moment of the season happened at the last game. Sydney, the star of Kiernan's team, lost his shoe during one play. It was hilarious watching these little boys laugh their heads off about a lost shoe. I should stress that they were not laughing at Sydney. Not at all. They just thought a lost shoe was funny, in the same way that they think "poop" is funny. It just is. The joy on their faces...I can't even describe it, but it puts the world in perspective.