h2o polo: week one

4 days of practice.
12 hours in the pool.
2 hours of weight training.
1st game yesterday.
1 minute of actual play time.
and this is the easy week.

he had never played water polo until monday. we dropped him off to join the high school jv team not knowing what to expect.  he did good.  they were impressed with his egg beater kick.

last night they had their first game.  we didn't think they would put jordan in since he's never played before.  he didn't even know how to put on the swim cap.  but the coach put him in during the last 30 seconds of 2 periods.  jordan just swam and watched the ball.  he admitted he had no idea what he was doing, but he said it was fun.

he has great swimming skill and has played basketball and volleyball in the past, so this seems like the perfect combination of everything.  his long arms are great for blocking.  the games are short and fast.  a little intimidating and intense, but lots of fun.

this is great for him to give him something to do over the summer.  he would much rather stay home, listen to music in his bed, maybe get up to play the drums for an hour or two, eat and then go back to bed.  there is definitely a teenage boy in this house.

he has already met a bunch of kids so that will make the first day of high school a little easier.  he is getting a head start in a new sport. the official season begins in the fall.  now he won't be trying to learn a new sport, while rehearsing with the band and trying to adjust to high school academics.

this morning getting up at 6am was a little lot harder.  he is sore, tired and adjusting to the aches and pains of his body.  we also saw some attitude.  he wanted a day off.  3 hours in the pool everyday, swimming, moving, getting yelled at - the coaches have to yell to be heard over all the splashing.  it's tough.  but he managed to get it together and go.  he's learning to deal and push through the pain or face the consequences.

we are learning all of this as we go too.  at the game yesterday i saw a mom from cha who's son plays on the jv team as well. it was nice to see a familiar face.  she was helpful and gave me some information on how this whole thing works.  high school is so different from the community we've been in over the past 9 years.  it's time to grow up! all of us. 

so to celebrate his 60 seconds of glory we had dinner at my favorite pizzeria in the valley, mulberry street.  thin, new york style pizza, cheesy and oh so good.  definitely worth all the work, at least for me.