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Riley is playing basketball for the Glenwood Springs Middle School 7th grade team. I was surprised Riley wanted to go out for basketball. He hasn't played since 3rd grade I believe... Riley has been given a spot on the A and B teams. He's kind of in between the really "talented" boys and the other kids. He's good enough to play on the A team, but gets more playing time on the B team...I'm just proud of him for stepping outside his comfort zone and playing. He says he is having fun, so that is all that matters, especially at this age. Middle school basketball is a little different from when I played. When I was Riley's age, there were cuts. Not here...Everyone makes the team. There are 38 boys on the team. The A coach takes the top 10-12, and the B coach gets everyone else. It's a zoo in the gym after school. I have a hard time believing anyone is getting better in the chaos, but it's just 7th grade, right? (By the way, this is the complete OPPOSITE mentality that McPherson has about the sport... Moving here has given Riley the option to play. I hate to not have confidence in Riley's skills, but there is no "fun" in basketball in McPherson. If you aren't an "ALL STAR" by kindergarten, forget about being anything or anyone in McPherson...okay, rant over.)

I was personally extremely excited he came home with #25. It was my number when I played, but it wasn't until I told him that it was Uncle Shawn's number too, that he showed a little more excitement.

He admitted to me that he wanted #13, but they didn't get to choose. Instead they had to grab from a big pile of jerseys. Sounds like it was fate that he got awesome #25. ;)

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In a previous post I mentioned we were getting ready to juggle both basketball and guitar lessons. At first the guitar teacher wasn't very thrilled that Riley would have to miss so many lessons...turns out Riley is working hard and picking up the guitar easily and is above the rest of the class. So far, even though Riley isn't at each lesson, he is doing extremely well. Very proud of how well Riley is doing at juggling his first year of Middle School activities and academics. If he keeps this up, I see such an amazing future for my kiddo.