The boy's award

Last night we attended the boy's Water Polo end of season banquet. I know I have that tunnel vision that a lot of parents get. Even when your child is in a team sport, your eyes stick on your own child. Last night, though, I was struck by the caliber of the kids in this program. The team captain, a senior, last night got up in front of the entire group of parents and kids and addressed them with such candor; unafraid to say that these are the most intimate friendships he's made in his life, that this team has brought him so much joy, that these guys have his admiration with how they evolved as a team and how they always watched out for each other... I was impressed. And those boys didn't tease or cajole or cat call. They nodded their heads, gave enthusiastic applause, and were candid themselves with their admiration for their captain and each other.

Enthusiasm is alive and well in high school. Who knew?

Because of our world stopping 2.5 inches of snow last week, the banquet had been rescheduled. Unfortunately that meant that the boy's JV coach was not in attendance last night. Drew already had a vacation planned. Instead he sent notes on each player. Here's what he had to say about our boy:

"Striker a.k.a. The Boss. He rarely missed a practice and never gave me any trouble. (He must save all the trouble for me. - MH) Too bad he won't get tall seeing how his dad is so short."

Striker also got the Most Improved Player award which is pretty awesome. It was voted on by the other boys on the team. Kristen, the head coach, said she completely agreed with the team's assessment with Striker's performance.

As we were chatting about the award and how great it was that he got it, he revealed, "I voted honestly, so I voted for myself." Hah!

Politician in the making.

BTW: another thing about our epic 2.5 inches of world stopping snow. Turns out that Bainbridge Bakers donated a cake for our event last night. Because our event was cancelled last week, Bainbridge Bakers made the cake TWICE! This was the most EPIC Chocolate Cake ever! It was HUGE and it defeated me and Hubby. We had to split our one piece. Amazing. Next time you're in Bainbridge Bakers, thank them for me, okay?