I’m helping out with my daughter’s Upwards basketball team this season and loving it! This is her third season with Upwards – the first was cheerleading (no chance there of me helping!) and then she transitioned to basketball. [She decided that the basketball players looked like they were having more fun. Go, Cora!] This season the coach sent out a message looking for a ‘Team Mom’ and ‘another Dad’ to help with the drills. Uh…. hmmmm… snacks or drills? Think I’ll take drills, thank you very much. One email later, indicating history coaching kids’ sports and doing kids’ ministries, I had me an assistant coaching gig! Except that coach neglected to tell league commissioner, and then coach’s kid had an emergency the first night of practice, leaving assistant coach to introduce herself to the league commissioner and tell him coach wasn’t going to make it. Awkward! Commissioner, to his credit when confronted with an adult who he had no knowledge of, ran practice himself. 2nd practice went a bit more smoothly: coach was there, I knew the kids, and good basketball drills were had by all.

Can’t say enough good things about the Upward program. Kids athletic based ministry to communities. Multiple sports (cheerleading, basketball, and soccer at least), all kids play equal time, devotions both in practice and in the games… oh, and did I mention the homily for the parents at half-time in the games? What a way to intersect with parents AND kids! Very glad to get to participate and contribute. I’m not a member of the church that’s sponsoring this Upward program, but maybe I’ll get invited to stick around.