The Business of Basketball

Once upon a time there was a home school dad who taught classes at the local YMCA to encourage home schooled kids to get involved in sports. One day he invited two girls, then 10 and 12, to come to his practice at the gym to see if they might enjoy bouncing a dirty brown ball on a shiny wood floor with funny lines painted all over it.

Their unsuspecting mother figured the first practice would be their last, and she could say when they were older that she never kept them from trying new things. But when she picked them up from the practice that afternoon, the first thing they said to her was, "Mom...the coach says we need our own basketball."

And then my life changed. I began to watch for sales on basketball shoes, and basketball socks, and basketball ankle braces, and basketball gym clothes, and basketball bags, and basketball sweatshirts, and especially basketballs!

The real dilemma was finding a place for them to compete that wouldn't break the bank. Club sports are expensive and the local high schools don't allow homeschoolers to participate in their sports programs. So over the last three years it's been hit and miss finding a league that was both friendly and affordable to homeschoolers. This past year, we could find neither for the older girls.














But little sisters were showing promise with the dirty brown ball, so we signed them up a year ago to play their first session at the local community center.














Fast forward 12 months.




















Bigger little sisters are now playing at the YMCA in a division with 10-13 year olds.




















And guess who's coaching them?