A winning season that began 7 years ago...

When Maddison was about 7 years old she played on a little city rec basketball team with her friends Hannah, Haley and Lexie.

They were so cute with their hair in a curly ponytail which was often adorned with a fun little flower or the Bo Derek braids that covered their heads and bounced up and down as they ran around the court.

Dribbling here and there, tossing the ball in the air and hoping it would land in that basket that seemed so high and out of reach.

They smiled and held hands and after the fun few weeks of some good exercise Maddison never thought of basketball again.

Her recreational sport of choice was dance.

And she spent her summers doing tricks off the diving board for the city dive team. When Maddison was 12 and in the 7th grade she decided she was going to try out for the junior high basketball team.

Excuse me??

Where did that come from??

Some 7 year old dream that was never quite fulfilled??

But she did it.

The coach kept 12 girls.

Maddie was girl number 13.

Coach said something like this to her, "I have a deal for you. I'd like to keep you on the team but you need to understand a few things. You will work out with the team, practice hard with the team, run the drills with the team and be expected to be at every game with the team BUT you wouldn't be able to actually play in a real game with the team. I see some real potential in you and would like to give you the opportunity to develop yourself as a player. With some hard work and lots of practice I think you could do it. So that's the deal. You don't have to say yes. I understand it would be hard to put in all the work and not get to play. I'll let you think about it over night and you can let me know tomorrow."

We talked Maddie through it over and over.

The good. The bad. The ugly.

She took the deal.

It's amazing what it does for one's confidence when someone believes in you. (Coach Little is a smart man...both on and off the court.)

 She had a great season and learned a lot about basketball and about herself.

She tried out for the 8th grade team the following year.

Coach Little put her on the team and again fueled her confidence with good, fair playing time and believing in her to get the job done.

 The team became the District Champions!

Now here we are at the present...

A freshman in highschool and another basketball season under her belt.

Wings are a beautiful thing.