Basketball Camps

Eli was lucky enough to be able to attend 2 UTSA basketball camps this month.

First he did a Father-Child camp with B.  They had such a fun time together!

It was a few hours on a Friday evening and then started again the next Saturday all day.  The camp taught dads how to run drills with their kids.  They did lots of drill stations, played basketball skill games, and played basketball games, too.

The second camp was a half-day basketball camp that ran Monday through Thursday.  Eli was so excited to do this!  For 4 days, he just played basketball and had a blast.

Unfortunately, something had to happen to taint his experience a bit.  On the third day, he was kind of harassed by 2 kids in his 7-8 year old age group.  None of the coaches saw anything because everyone's attention was on a big group game that was being played in center court.  (If you were out of the game--where Eli was--you had to sit with your group by the wall.)  These 2 boys got into Eli's face and were trying to get Eli to inadvertently say inappropriate things.  But Eli is so young and innocent, he had no idea what they were laughing about.  He asked them to stop, to leave him alone, and he ignored them too, but nothing worked.  Then they said, "Hi, Chinese Boy" a few times and that's when I lost it.

SERIOUSLY?!?...to my sweet Eli?!?!?!

He was so annoyed with them that he went to the bathroom and hid until a new game started and they were gone.  My poor Eli hiding in a bathroom!  I wanted to die when he told me this!  I felt so awful that I wasn't there to help him...or to beat up on these boys...or at least trip them "accidentally."  I was livid.  But I also didn't want to do anything that would make the boys harass him more once I dropped him off.

So I emailed the camp director (who happens to be Asian!) and he emailed me right back late that night.  He said he knew who Eli was and that this was serious...that they have a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of thing.  He wanted me to find him the next day and he was going to address it with the entire camp.

The next day he talked to Eli and me and reassured us that he was going to keep a closer watch on the younger group.  At the beginning of the camp that day, he also talked to the group about being positive and kind.  He also mentioned that if anyone was heard saying anything negative, they would have to sit out and watch for the rest of the day.

I also ended up sticking around longer that day to check things out.  Eli pointed out the 2 not-so-nice boys to me.  They were definitely the most rambunctious ones in the group.

I was really sad this happened to Eli.  I know it could happen to him anywhere, but it just made me so sad that I wasn't there at that moment!  I was proud of Eli for telling me and for being brave enough to return the next day.  He didn't seem too shaken up but it did make him sad.  You and me both, Eli.

Why can't we all just get along?  Really...why can't we??