Ballerina

I never got around to writing up something about Karsyn’s performance in the Nutcracker, so I wanted to set the record straight. I wrote about how she was preparing for her performance with the Moscow Ballet’s traveling group back in October after she earned a part through tryouts.

After three months of rehearsals, she finally got to dance on December 30th. I have to say that I was floored by the whole thing. No, I’m not filling out her application to Juliard quite yet, but I have to say that I was one proud papa that night.

She danced in three or four sequences, which included a costume change between sequence 2 and 3. She played one of the children in the opening party scene, and then served as an angel in the latter parts of the performance.

The fact that she had to remember so many parts of the performance was the part that really impressed me. This wasn’t a 30 second routine mind you. I video taped every second of her on the stage, which amounted to about 17 minutes of footage. Some of it included the end of the performance, where all the performers come out on stage and take a bow, but the majority of the tape consists of Karsyn actually dancing out there.

She was required to be there at 9 in the morning, in preparation for a 3pm and 7pm performance at the Flint Center in Cupertino. Seating capacity is about 1200-1500 if you include the balconies and mezzanine levels. I attended the 3pm performance, which was close to sold out.

Just knowing that she was up there in front of all those people, with a cast of about 30 professional dancers was something I just didn’t fully grasp until I was there to see it. She loved being up on stage, which is something she must get from her mother, because I couldn’t do something like that.

All in all, it was something I’ll never forget. My little girl wasn’t so little for an evening. She was a dancer.

If you’re ever over the house, ask to see the video. It’s awesome.

Hoop Daddy

So I've decided to step up to the plate and coach Karsyn’s youth basketball team. Her first game is this Saturday. We’ve had one practice, which went fairly well, but I have no idea how well they’ll do when faced with real competition.

I’m actually quite surprised that Sonya let me coach. Back in the 90’s I coached water polo at Fremont High School for three years. Two years as JV coach and one as the varsity coach. My last year there was a trying one, because I had a team full of players who couldn’t swim.

Oh, and I swore like a drunken sailor at games. Apparently this is not a good thing to do when trying to mold young athletes. The thing is, that’s all I was ever exposed to when I played in high school and college. Coaches were made of piss & vinegar, so I tried the same approach.

Actually, I also had a team of kids that were resigned to the fact that they were going to get their asse…oop…butts handed to them during every game. They did, but I couldn’t accept the attitude that losing was acceptable. I came from programs where athleticism was typically even, and it came down to who wanted to win more. Who would make that extra effort to win.

Using a touchy, feely, psycho-babble approach to coaching high school kids that were defeatists just wouldn’t work. So during my JV stint, I actually turned out a couple of decent teams. But by the time those kids graduated up to varsity, they were so overmatched by kids that could swim circles around them, that they didn’t have a chance.

It’s funny that all these years later, one of the kids I coached is now running that program. He says I was the best coach he ever had. At least that’s what he says to my face!

So here I am, ten years removed from my high school coaching days, about to lead a group of 1st & 2nd grade girls in basketball. I’ve vowed to keep the swearing limited to the “F-word” and a couple of “god damn its” (ha, just kidding Sonya!). I’ve already been warned with great bodily harm to watch the language.

What do I know about basketball you ask? Aside from hours of pick up in college, absolutely nothing. Will these kids learn anything? I hope so. I found some cool coaching plans that the NBA provides for youth development. Some great training concepts in there. Who would have thought to go over the basics…like dribbling.

Besides, you should have seen the look on these kids faces when I tried to explain what rebounding was. It was priceless. Shear terror in their eyes, but priceless.

He Shoots, He Scores!

Ry Ry on his new roller blades (Christmas present)...

Tracking Santa online via NORAD

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Originally uploaded by mghione.

The kids were very interested in seeing where Santa was on Christmas Eve.