Basketball!

This is my basketball team. They are freaking awesome! We got together at practice the other day to take those cheesy sports portraits you take in high school that you end up hating later in life. I think they are a pretty integral part to the whole development process. Anyways here is my team in all their glory! On a side note: These girls are amazing. They love playing basketball and they hands down make the two years I have spent over here completely worth it. We still have our work cut out for us and up until this point in time we have not won a single game but who cares. They are awesome. And I have a feeling we are going to get that W eventually...

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I could almost fool you into thinking I am mature and have my stuff together with this... Almost.

This one is my favorite...

And this one...

Milé. She is kind of like the team mascot or cheerleader. She is Elitsa's little sister and we love her. If she sticks with it, and I hope she does, I am thinking WNBA...

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Bilgen. That is her name. She showed up to practice one day about two months ago and could drain perfect lay-ups. Now I know that the lay-up is one of the most basic building blocks of basketball but between my horrible Bulgarian and the fact that these kids have never even really watched proper basketball be played this has been a huge barrier to get over. I have no idea where she learned it but I am grateful. I just give her the ball and tell everyone else to watch and do what she does. You find ways to get things done...

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Elif. That is her name. And nobody on the team comes close to her as far as hustling goes. Not the lets go play dice or pool and I will pretend like I don't know what is going on and then steal all your money kind of hustling. The good kind. Always running. Always giving it her all. I wish she was a little more aggressive at times (she tends to be too nice, especially to the other team) but we all have our downfalls I suppose.

Gulche. That is her name. Loudest girl on the face of the planet. Constantly yelling. I mean yelling. And always has something to say. Or yell, I should say. She. Is. Awesome.

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Izel. The fastest girl on the team hands down. She has crazy amounts of energy and is a pretty good little basketball player at that. She gets a little lazy from time to time and piddles around on the other end of the court but I am pretty sure I picked flowers during soccer games when I was 6. Not that that is relevant...

Elitsa. I love this picture. She looks so happy. Elitsa is one of the originals. A year and a half ago when I started this whole basketball thing she was one of maybe three girls that would come. And she is great. Also a little to nice. During games she doesn't really play all that hard on defense because I think she thinks it is mean to keep her friends on the other team from scoring. I am working on figuring out how to make her angry, but it is impossible. Always smiling. I am grateful for that.

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This is my favorite "silly" pose. I told the girls to take one serious picture and one funny one. Other than being totally awkward I am not sure what Elitsa was trying to get at. I give it a full 10 though.

Azya. I, for the life of me, cannot pronounce her name right. She yells at me a lot. It is kind of funny. Anyways, this is my captain. She does really crazy things like ask to run suicides after practice if I don't make them. And she helps me. A lot. When I come up with a new drill to run I try and explain it in my horrible Bulgarian and then she usually takes over and explains it to the rest of the girls. It is kind of funny. She translates my Bulgarian into real Bulgarian. I don't think I could do any of this without her. And she really loves basketball. She is all about it. Go team.

Idenise. The sleeper. She is a great hustler and loves loves loves this game. You can tell. It effects her. She is also pretty smart. Always looking for a way to get open. The problem is that she doesn't talk much so she doesn't yell for the ball much so she doesn't get the ball much. Everyone still dribbles with their eyes down on the ball so unless you yell they aren't going to see you. So I am trying to get her to yell more. It is working. Slowly, but surly. She also has a pretty wicked outside shot (and by wicked I mean that her form couldn't be any more horrible but the ball somehow goes in... still racking my brain to figure it out).

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Bilyai. She is a lefty. But determined to use her right hand. Which is great because it is going to make her that much better. She is also always smiling. She gets the positive award. I don't think I have heard her complain once. She is awesome. And she is sisters with Bilgen.

This girl is the newest addition to the team and to be honest I can remember her name. I am horrible with names in the first place but for some reason I am even worse with people over here. I guess because the names are so different. Anyways, she is great. And I will figure out her name and get it up here soon.

I am really glad she did this. This was the picture I had in mind when I told the girls to do a funny picture and she did it. I don't know why but that makes me happy.

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Ilean. She is the tallest girls on the team and hands down has the best shot. Her from is great and she can sink a shot from almost anywhere. I am trying to teach her how to play down low but she gets really frustrated when people push her around. It is part of the game but she gets all bothered and then tends to pout from time to time. She easily has the most potential of anyone on the team.

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It is good to be tall.

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Dangerous. Just dangerous.

This is why boys suck. This is what they do. In development, and for that matter life in general, women get crap done and boys are just a bunch of punks. That is so true. I have told my guys a million times that they have practice on Tuesday and Thursdays and they never come. But they always magically show up at the girls practices to watch. I actually get really pissed and yell at them and kick them out. It is frustrating. I am frustrated just talking about it... So if you are a boy- step up. Get your crap together. You are NOT cool. And that is okay.

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