Filming

Mellisa is my oldest daughter - and I believe that she is trying to send me to an early grave. She had always wanted to play in the WNBA ever since she was a little girl and honestly, I really do love basketball. BUT, her sophomore year, I let her make the decision to focus on volleyball so that's what we did - ALL OF THE TIME - and I sucked it up and kept quiet about the basketball thing. For 5 years, we have volleyballed, volleyballed, volleyballed. This is what she wanted to do. So Mellisa and I traveled - tons. Lots of hotels, lots of miles and lots of unusual meals that can be prepared in a microwave. And when it was too far - Mellisa traveled alone (like the trips to Florida). The family gave up vacations, family time, not to mention big time money in order to support volleyball. Then lo and behold, elite/travel season rolls around this year, and Mellisa decides - NAH - I just want to have fun. WHAT?!?!? We have D1 schools looking at her - she is 6"4' and is one of the better middles that I have seen - not the best - but she could be. And she wants to chuck it all away? I just about lost it. So - we sucked it up AGAIN and supported her and let her play the expansion league, hoping that she won't forget everything she has learned and will wake up, get a clue and realize the opportunities that she has. The junior year of elite is the big signing year - this is the year those college coaches are watching and waiting for that signature. So - since we aren't going to the big tournaments in Chicago, etc., we are having to get creative. Chris found a guy that will film an athlete during actual game play, do an interview with the athlete and the coach and then edit and spiff it up with music, etc. all for a reasonable price. Hopefully, we can have a nice CD that we can send to colleges that Mellisa might be interested in and get some coaches aware of her that way.
We are going to have them do Kiel as well. The hard part about Kiel is that the bball coach is whacko - some nights Kiel plays the whole game and then other nights (like Saturday night) he saw all of 4 minutes - and he is about finished with his season. I know that Loyola likes what they see in Kiel. They think he is a great kid and would love for him to be a walk-on but we really need some financial help for him to go there. So - in case that doesn't pan out - we can send the CD to other schools...
I have such mixed emotions about all of this. I have been lucky with AJ since he still lives at home while he goes to college. I am not sure how I will handle when the kids start leaving...