Cooper Junior Jazz (6th Grade)

While Cooper loves playing basketball, and is an absolute fan of the NBA, he hasn't wanted to play on an organized team for a couple of years. Even just recreational ball was a little too much. I missed watching him play. He surprised me this season by saying he did want to be on a Junior Jazz team with his friends from school. I was surprised, but thrilled!

Super Cooper in action, two of his four baskets during his first Junior Jazz game! #blackhamball #juniorjazz

A video posted by BlackhamBall (@blackhamball) on Dec 11, 2015 at 3:42pm PST

Here's just a couple quick clips from his 1st game. I am taking the clips from the game and making highlight videos. You can see the playlist here (Cooper Basketball ) and I'll continue to add to it as the season progresses. It's great to see Cooper in action again!

I'm so grateful to this group of friends, these basketball buddies from school that got Cooper-Man playing again! After a tough game though, Cooper did get a little intimidated and skipped the rest of the season. Glad I got this picture (he wasn't there for the official team photo either).

Keaton - West Hills 9th Grade Team

During this 2015-2016 season, Keaton is playing on the West Hills Middle School team. They play in the district league on Saturdays, against the other middle schools in the Jordan District. To get a little more playing time in, they are also on a trimmed team playing Thursdays in the Salt Lake Superleague. It keeps us busy! Happily, practices are generally right after school, so that helps out, saving extra trips. 

I don't know that I'll catch every game (with three other boys in basketball, there are bound to be some conflicts) but those I do, I'll try to video and make a muvee of the highlights. I'll be posting to my "Basketball" Facebook page (Twitter & Instagram too). Of course, you can always check in directly with YouTube via the playlists below, or simply subscribe for instant notification of any uploads. 

West Hills Blue Team

Thursday Night Salt Lake SuperLeague Highlight Videos Playlist

Game Schedule

West Hills Middle School

Jordan School District League Highlight Video s Playlist

Game Schedule

The boys played in the Christmas AAU tournament in December 2015.
You can see the highlights from those three games at the link below.
West Hills/Christmas AAU

Keaton, James and Tyler

You can follow the team on TeamSnap too!

Keaton got sick for one of the last Saturdays in the tournament. Unfortunately it was a double header that day, so he missed two games. The team won one, lost the other, which eliminated them. It always feels like an "unfinished" season when you miss the last game!

The boys finished up with an end of season party.

Way to go Wildcats!

Colton - Fall 2015

Tayden, Tyrone, Tyler

Daxton, AJ, Austin, Colton, Freeman

Fall Basketball ... after the summer season, Colton's coach and some of the kids were moving up to the 5th/6th grade level. They invited Colton to come play with them, but I was a little concerned about them going against a team of all 6th graders (I remember Callahan's crew completely dominating that league one season). At the high school, there were the tryouts for the Bantam leagues, but there just wasn't much interest in the 3rd or 4th grade level. With both grades combined they couldn't even put together a team. After spreading the word and adding a couple more kids, there were eight players, and three dad coaches. There was some debate about whether to try a superleague, but as it was the first time the boys were playing together, it was decided to join the Gene Fullmer 3rd/4th rec league. Practices were Tuesday nights. Cooper often came and shot around some, and I jogged the track while I waited.

We almost wished we had gone the superleague route, as the boys won every game with ease. At times the coach had to get creative in ways to hold the boys back (no dribbling-only passing, defense only with the legs-no arms). The final game was against a good team that definitely provided a challenge though. It was very close the entire second half, and then we won ... by one. Whew! Undefeated!

I made two videos ... the first of the first few games (there were four, but Colton missed one, so it's really only clips from three games), and then the final three games. The first four games were played at Gene Fullmer, but they switched the kids back to a half-court (instead of the full court like during the summer). The final games were played at Taylorsville Rec and SoJoMiddle School ... those were all 8:00 games. So much for my Saturday sleep in.

Colton and Crew - Set 1

Colton and Crew - Set 2

Colton - Summer 2015

Summer season ... Colton had pretty much the same team as Spring (we lost one kid, gained two new ones). They would practice on Monday nights, and with our Gene Fullmer summer passes, the siblings would usually go too. Games were on Saturdays. This time, they were playing the full court at Gene Fullmer, which meant more running!

I video-taped all the games and made two muvees ...

The First Four Games

The Final Four Games

Coach Farmer, Luke, Dodger, Colton, Nikolas, Lukas

Peter, Gage, Collin, Alex (the other Collin missing from the picture).

The boys did learn to play together well as a team this season. It was fun to see the passing and the plays. Alas, several of the boys will be in 5th grade come Fall, so that moves them up in the league, so the team will be splitting up some for the future.

Colton - Spring Basketball 2015

In the Winter, the little boys play Junior Jazz  basketball. As Spring rolls around, there are so many other options (soccer, football, baseball), but this year Colton was eligible to continue on in basketball (Gene Fullmer offers a rec league starting in  3rd grade). He swayed between soccer and basketball for a bit, then decided on basketball. I'll admit, as a parent spectator ... I do prefer the basketball (no weather worries, easier parking, no urge to jump into the game). I was especially pleased when I found out the games would be held at Gene Fullmer. They have a track above the court, and I love to jog while I watch. Except that I also like to get video of the games. Originally, the 14-year old agreed to be the videographer, but after the first couple games (in which he did fine, but missed some shots) his interest waned. I ended up manning the video camera instead of jogging for the remaining games ... but I was especially glad I did for THIS game (see highlights below). Colton was on FIRE ...

While I usually make a video for every game with the older boys, I generally don't get enough footage with the younger kids from a single game (that one above was the exception!). Usually I just wait until the end of the season and make one video, featuring all the highlights. I also did that, with the remaining games, you can see it HERE. 

No official team picture with Spring season (which is fine with me!) We didn't know anyone going into the season ... only one of the boys goes to Colton's same elementary school. But Colton is an easy going kid and makes friends easily. Back row ... Peter, Colton, Alex, Luke, Luke.  Front Row. ... Collin, Gage, Collin, Jordan (Coach Farmer)

Callahan -Spring 2015

The official basketball season may be over ... but there is still basketball. Callahan's age group is now considered "Junior Varsity" and in playing in a Spring League and a Spring Tournament, both with a majority of the games at Copper Hills High School. It's great that they are so nice and close, and the boys can run clocks to pay for a portion of the basketball fees.

** Spring Schedule **

While the games at Highland are a little too far for me to attend, I'm planning on hitting all the others, and hopefully getting video for a highlight reel. Check out the YouTube playlist for all the Spring League games. I'll be updating as the games go ...

CHHS JV Spring League YouTube Playlist

The first four games were wins ...
Riverton in game #5 was the first loss.
The boys won all the remaining games.

There is also a tournament ... 

I'll update with a link to that playlist as I add games. 

** Spring Tournament **

There was an additional game on Friday as well.
You can see all the game highlights below.
CHHS Spring Tournament YouTube Playlist

Go Grizzlies!

Also, check out my Twitter and Instagram for updates!

Keaton - 8th Grade Year

I know they took team pictures ... I'll have to track it down. I missed the end of the year banquet, but I did make it to almost all of Keaton's games. There were quite a few new kids, I was learning names at the start, but got to know all the boys by the end of the season. 

On this team ... James, Rowland, Tyler and Koby (all whom Keaton had played with before) then there was Bradley, Nathan, Brenner and Dawson.  Brian Allfrey was coach. They played in two leagues. A Wednesday superleague, and then the Bantam league on Saturdays. 

While I videoed all the games, I didn't make highlight reels of all the games. It just takes time to go through all the clips (Keaton isn't inclined to help out here), make the muvee, etc. Any losses ... well, they just aren't nearly as fun to relive, even though often there are still great highlights! I didn't even get to all the wins ... but there are six games of fun highlights to watch and remember this season. 

Keaton - Basketball 2015

Keaton - Up with the 9th Graders

During Keaton's 8th grade year, he not only played basketball with the Copper Hills Prep league, but also with the West Hills school team. The official team is all 9th graders, but then Coach Heagren taps a few younger players to come practice with the team, and augment it for the Thursday night league (when the boys split into two teams to allow for more playing time). 

There were many practices after school, and early on Friday mornings. Games were Thursday nights ... the same night as my Zumba class. I didn't make it to that many games, especially after Keaton's buddy Tyler joined the team and his parents were always willing to give Keaton a ride. So ... not much video footage. You can see a small clip (HERE) ... and Keaton did score as I had my camera out!

Keaton went to watch almost all the Saturday games the 9th graders played in the official district league. Always there, cheering them on (he didn't even come to Callahan's games as often when Cal was on the team last year!) They were able to win the tournament, and the BIG trophy! Even though Keaton didn't play in the Saturday games, he still got a t-shirt with the rest of the team.

Good luck to these guys as they try out for the sophomore team next year. I know Keaton sure had a good time getting to know them and having the opportunity to play along side them this year. 

Colton - Junior Jazz (3rd Grade)

Colton was excited to play basketball this winter ... following in the footsteps of his big brothers!  For the last couple years we've always had friends and neighbors we've signed up with, but this year ... we just signed up and hoped he'd know a few of the kids on his team. There were a few that went to his same school.

As a third grader player, they had practices this year. Tuesday nights over at Joel P. Colton really enjoyed the practices, especially the games of "tornado" at the end. Sometimes Keaton and Cooper would come along and shoot around too.

Games were on Saturdays at West Hills Middle School. Luckily we got the West side of the gym, which is a little more spacious than the other side. They had one little superstar on the team (Zion), and they had a pretty good season.

Here's a highlight video ...

Team Picture

Callahan - Sophomore Year

It was finally time. Tryouts for the high school basketball team. Even though we were pretty sure Callahan would make the team, we were still nervous. HE was SO nervous! His dream since he was in 3rd grade came true. He made the team!

I knew being on the team also required a bit from the parents. There were the normal fees of course, and then the required "volunteering" for the snack bar, team dinners, lunches, donations and ticket sales. There were tons of practices for Callahan, and then of course, there were the games ...

Thanks to his former coach (Mike Heagren) for all the great photos! You can see more here. I didn't get video of every game, but I made a few. You can check out Callahan in action here (Callahan's Sophomore Year).  The highlight of the year will be this play, made in the final seconds of the game against rival Bingham ...

(Jan2015) The highlight of the season for Callahan! At the buzzer to beat Bingham... #basketballcal

A video posted by BlackhamBall (@blackhamball) on Mar 6, 2015 at 12:35pm PST