The storage room where they were all kept through the week!
After a busy week of preparations, Friday finally came. I left work at noon that day, and took Nik out to a celebration lunch! We ate at a wonderful restaurant, where Nik had Steak and I had the best Club Sandwich in town. It was a nice lunch, and we got to spend a little time together before all the sha-bang really began.
But after lunch, it was back to work, getting all the last minute details ready for the big Award Celebration that night. The gym started out looking like this, late Wednesday night, after Youth Service:
The gym floor covered with a mat, and bleachers put in place.
Next to be done - chairs, stage, sound and lighting setup.
Then posters, balloons, and other decorations to make it look festive!
We had a packed house Friday night, with over 350 people in our gym, celebrating the season. Each player got to run through a tunnel (balloon arch) as Nik called out their name and people cheered for them. The players loved this!
Then Nik welcomed everybody and talked about what a great season it has been. He thanked all the coaches for their hard work - and then gave one particular coach an award. Each year, Nik recognizes one coach who has demonstrated Christ-likeness throughout the whole season. This is such a cool award to give and to receive! Nik gives them a game ball that has been signed by all the players that year.
Nik, giving away the award to Coach Chris.
Afterwards, everyone watches 'highlights' from the season in a 15 minute slide show put together by one of our coaches. (This is what I was taking all the pictures for. We like to make sure that each player sees a picture of them self during the slide show). It turned out great!
Then we heard from a special speaker. Nik always finds such great speakers each year...and this year was no different. We heard from a ventriloquist who was soooo funny! Everyone laughed so hard. Kids and adults. During his speaking, he presented the gospel message and 2 kids accepted Christ! Worth. It. All.
The speaker, with his duck.
He also had a few other props, including one of our coaches! I can't resist these two jokes we heard, and have to share:
- Why did the chicken run onto the court during a basketball game? Because the ref kept hollering 'Foul'!
- What is the politically correct term for a dummy? A Mannequin-American!
Ha Ha Ha! So funny! (I'm still laughing....)
All in all, it was a wonderful night! Game day came Saturday and we had so much fun. We left all the decorations up and kept the celebration going. During each half-time, Nik gave opportunities for the parents to win free registration for the next year by answering questions, and then shooting from the half-court line. No one got it this year (they did last year) but it was still fun! We also brought out the big grill and our concession stand grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and made fresh-home made chocoloate chip cookies.
We ended the day with the last CPR game of the season. It is so fun to watch the coaches and parents on the court, playing ball.
During the whole day, I kept the pharse "This is the last day" close to mind. When I would receive a complaint about a bad call, or something not going 100%, or just really anything - I kept telling myself "This is the last day". It's really amazing how much you can handle and how your attitude stays good when it's the last day! It really was a great day, and a great end to a wonderful season.
Through out this season, we survived:
- 8 Saturdays of games
- 14 Games each Saturday- 26 Teams
- 40 Coaches
- 180 participants
- 650 pictures to find a good one of each player
- $2,000 + raised for teens in the concession (which we are also in charge of)
- and homemade biscuits and gravy every Saturday!
I'm very proud of my husband, the director of our league. He works so hard, beginning in July, to organize the season. And wow, it takes a lot to organize a season! Sometimes he has to make decisions that not everyone likes. He has to think about what is best for the overall ministry - but yet, make each child and family feel that they are important and loved. What a hard job! He can't wear his thoughts/feelings on his sleeve, and has to sheild himself (to an extent) to not have his feelings hurt when someone says/does something. He is always available to run a practice, ref a game, sort out a bad call or disagreement, get ice for an injured player, mop up a spill on the court, run to the store when the concession needs something, talk out concerns with parents...etc...and all with a smile on his face and grace that is only from God! Great job, Nik!
After we got home (6pm Saturday) we ordered pizza and vegged out on our coach! We were both so tired. I was so tired, in fact, that I feel asleep while talking to Nik. He was kind enough to not wake me up, but take this picture of me:
Ha Ha! This picture is so funny!
He put his cap on my head because he was too tired to put it anywhere else!
We are both still recovering, actually...but at least I will have my husband home each night this week. I can't wait to spend some good, quality time with him!
If you made it through reading this very long post - good job! This is probably boring to most of you. But it is our life. And so, I blog about it. Plus, these are good memories for us!
I hope to keep my blog a bit more updated in the next few weeks. I have just been too tired to do much more than what I have done.
Okay - I'm done now. I'm sure you need a bathroom break after reading this novel...I know I do, after writing it!
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