Girls Basketball Tips Off at TVHS

Saturday was Tip-off day for the Lady Bears of basketball season.

This event began with the gathering of the three teams, freshman, JV and varsity at 7:30 a.m. -- not an easy feat for a large group of teenagers -- for team and individual photos.

When I arrived at the gym shortly after 7:30 a.m., it was buzzing with activity; coaches and parents were setting up tables, players were helping each other get ready, a few folks like me just wandering around, waiting to be told what to do or how to help, and younger brothers and sisters were dribbling basketballs on the shiny gym floor, taking turns shooting free throws.

The gym was full of laughter and anticipation of another exciting season of Lady Bear basketball. I have two daughters in the TVHS program, one on the freshman team and one on the varsity team, so I was anticipating the morning with excitement.

The players took hundreds of photos of each other with their smart phones and digital cameras; the day has become known as the best looking day in basketball among some of the parents as the girls fixed themselves up for the event and looked stunning as they ran up and down the court.

The morning was filled with team introductions, three-point competitions with a player from each level represented, a skills demonstration and a brief speech from the coaching staff as well as the booster club president.

The best part of the day was the game between the varsity girls vs. the old
school -- aka, the fathers and one aunt.

The game consisted of two 10-minute halves with a 2-minute break -- was two minutes long enough dads? -- in between.

The referees were varsity coach Felicia Simon and assistant coach Joe Weimann, and the play-by-play given by Coach Brian Harris.

I don’t know a lot about basketball, but it seemed it may have been a little more in favor of the girls; this belief is due to the good-natured remarks thrown at Coach Simon during the game.

Players were subbed in and out, dads guarded their daughters, and the girls stole the ball, passed and shot their way into a win. It was so much fun to see everyone in the gym laughing and smiling together to support girls basketball.

As children get older, especially into high school, it seems rare to have parents, grandparents, siblings and the players in the same shared space at the same time, without lots of eye-rolling from the teenagers.

Tip-off day is a time for the players, parents, fans and coaches to gather together and have a little fun to kick off the season. I encourage you to come down to TVHS
some time this season and catch one of the games, support girls sports and
watch some of the best players in the valley in action.

OK, so I may be biased, but the teams looked good the other day! The game schedule can be found at www.tvhsgirlsbasketball.com.

Tickets are affordable and go toward the funding of the girls program. I wonder
if the old school team has recovered by now.

A great big thank you to in Temecula for donating the food for the event on Saturday. It was delicious.