Hard work pays off

Gabrian has been going to the North YMCA for 30 to 45 minutes early to practice shooting and dribbling before the 30 minute practice and 30 minute game on Saturdays. This last Saturday (12/19) the hoop at the Y was even taller than usual. The hoops for his games are about 7 feet. The YMCA hoops lower to 8 feet. I think the hoop we were using was 9. This forced Gabrian to learn how to really bend his knees and push hard when he shot his dunk ball to even hit the net. Each week he has been able to more consistently hit the net, and switching to a small dunk ball for part of the time has helped him learn how to hold the ball.

Well for the final game Gabrian dribbled the length of the court (a combination of dribbling, running with the ball, bouncing it off his toes, and chasing after it), got close to the hoop, and shot the ball as high as he could over the other teams outstretched hands. I think he was a surprised as the crowd as the ball went up and straight down as a perfect swish, not even touching the rim. Most of the crowd has realized he is by far the youngest and everyone got a good chuckle at watching him skip and spin his way up and down the court for the next couple of plays. Gabrian is still telling the story over and over whenever he can.