Ball Playa

For those of you who know my little 8 year old Braden, you know that he is a ball player. By that, I mean baseball, basketball, soccer...you name it.
Last year, he was 1 of only 2 1st graders asked to play on the Carroll County All Star baseball team.
He played his 2nd ever season of soccer this year and was excellent. He played U8 and was one of a few asked to play in some U10 games with the older kids. Right now, he is best at goalie/punting. He can punt the ball from his goal to the other teams goal without much problem...
It just comes natural for him. He's just like his dad. He's good at every single sport he tries.
He's played golf and tennis a few times each. Awesome at both since he was 4 years old.
We go bowling- almost out bowls me.
Aunt Jill and Uncle Bruce from Pennsylvania brought the boys Lacrosse sticks and balls (I have no idea if that's the correct terminology since that's not a sport we rednecks play... :-) last summer and they were just messing around with them in the yard. He was catching and throwing that little ball in that little net within a few minutes.
He can't wait to play football competitively. That'll be this coming fall. He can punt the ball a mile. He can throw a perfect spiral and can also catch very well from far distances.
I'm not bragging, just stating the facts. The child is good at everything he tries. And he loves it. He's just ate up with all things sports and athletic.
He played Upward Basketball in Bville as a kindergartener and did very well. We skipped in 1st grade because we just had too much going on with other sports, etc. This year, in 2nd grade, he definately wanted to sign up to play again.
He is doing SO great! He has played games the past 2 weeks. Tomorrow is his 3rd game. He has received the best defender title each game so far. He is so agressive. In Upwards, they are matched up with a player on the other team of like size and ability and they get matching arm bands to wear. They plan man to man defense against their matching colored opponent. He gets in trouble for guarding everyone on the other team... If they've got the ball, he's all over them. He's getting better about remembering that he has to just do what he's told and if another guy scores, he's not responsible for it... :-)
Anyway, I say all that to lead into this little video I took last week at the game. My camera broke shortly after this, so this is the only one I was able to take. It's a clip of his stealing the ball and passing it to Braden to go down the court for the fast break. He happened to miss this particular shot. It was the first couple plays of the game and it was his first shot. For the record, I think he scored around 10 points this game by the time it was over. He is #14 in the white jersey- on defense for the first part of the clip.
We are so proud of him and mostly so glad he has so much fun!