Jamie's Story - Confidence to last a lifetime.
During Upward evaluations Jamie and his mom came in and were registering for the new season. His mom slipped me a note that said, “3rd season – 0 goals”. I assured her he would score this year.
Practices began in December and then games in January. Jamie was at every game, but still did not score. All children play an equal amount of time, so he had had many opportunities, but had not been able to score.
At the next to the last game, Ref Jeff decided that this was the day Jamie would score. He made sure that the ball was passed to Jamie, Ref Jeff set picks and did everything possible to give him the opportunity to score. Jamie shot twice and each time the ball rolled around the rim and fell out. By this time, most of the gym knew what was happening and everyone was cheering for Jamie. It was getting near the end of the game, and it looked like Jamie would not score that day, when he was passed the ball and shot it and it went in with no help from a ref or anyone. Jamie’s face was beaming as he ran down the court with his hands in the air and tears streaming down his face. His mom was on the sidelines crying and cheering. The rest of the gym was cheering and many were crying.
I talked to Jamie after the award stars were given out that day and have never seen a child so excited. His mom was still crying.
We asked them to be in our year end video and his mom talked about how scoring this one basket had changed his entire life. Jamie was already a Christian, but he had started going to a new school the past fall and hadn’t been able to make many friends. After his basket, he started make new friends, his grades improved and his whole outlook on things changed. By loving each child ensuring “Every Child is a Winner” in our Upward program, lives are being changed forever.
Story submitted by Upward Fans, Brad Adkins and Jeff Weber.