For some of you reading this, my writings will be boring and totally irrelevant, but if you dare - stay with me for a point....
I spent Friday night and all day Saturday with my son, Matt somewhere between Tullahoma and Lynchburg, TN for an AAU basketball sub-state tournament. This is where some of the top teams in the region get together to determine who gets to compete at the state level, etc...
Matt's team of (10) guys won all three of their games against some great competition, and that was neat, but that is not the point of my blog entry.....
When we were not playing, we had to wait on some 11-year old teams to play their games in between our 17-year old games (even though, yes, Matt is still a ripe young 16)
These 11-year olds is the point of my blog.
I wish you could have seen these teams. Oh my - their uniforms, their coaches attire, their "fans/parents" attire, their "travel bags", their attitudes, their "swagger", their whole demeanor........what is the deal with that? These are 11-year old kids!!!!!!! They are in the 5th grade - in elementary school!!!! You would have thought you were in Chapel Hill or Durham, NC.......(I know - only hard core basketball fans will get that one!!)
It's a whole 'nother world - this AAU world.....where people spend loads and loads and loads of money, all of their weekends traveling and supporting their 11-year olds to "I'm-not-so-sure-what-is-next-except-hopefully-and-ultimately-an-NBA-contract" ideal!
I watched these 11-year old boys "hover" around the one parent who "kept the book" to see how many points they scored. It was frightening. I wanted to be optimistic and believe that this is encouragement for kids who might not have anything else to get excited about - to rally around, but that is not what I felt. I felt an immense void - a hollow feeling of "is this really all there is to get excited about"?
What happens to these young kids - these 11-year olds who don't make it to the NBA? What happens to the ones who don't get a college scholarship? Do they then attempt to "live their 11-year-old lives" through THEIR kids when they become 11?
Sorry - I am now beyond blogging and am rambling, but it really did get to me. After all, I was "one of them" (to an extent). I spent my weekend with (10) guys and a few parents. I love these kids, and I believe in them way beyond their basketball abilities. I will always remember this and other weekends that will follow......
So, maybe there is more to it than believing that the "pie in the sky" is the NBA. Maybe some of these 11-year olds I saw this past weekend will grow up to be solid, law-abiding, God-loving-serving parents who will believe in the AAU world of 11-year old basketball, but keep it in perspective of what life is really all about....
uhmmm.......makes me wonder who is intentionally ministering to this "world"???? Where is the church for this AAU world? After all, everyone - even the 11-year old AAU world needs Jesus, right?
I will ponder more on this subject - for now, my eyes and heart were opened this weekend - yes, even in the most remote parts of middle Tennessee.....
