Our house comes complete with a basketball court in the front yard. Actually it's across the driveway from us, but our front porch gives us a great viewing platform for the neighborhood games. The court is a gathering place almost every day for a group of young people, some of whom live nearby while others arrive on motor bikes and cars. I think the basketball players must have tapped into some stimulus funds, because last week they all pitched in to renovate the facility. They removed part of one backboard in order to replace the boards and reattach the rim.
They also spent several days patching uneven places in the court. They used cement.
When it rains here, it pours! With a major storm beginning, everyone scattered to find banana leaves and palm branches to cover the wet cement.
The next step was to paint the backboards....pink! I'll have to ask why pink. I imagine it was the color of paint that was available.
Kids don't try this at home! When your ladder is not tall enough to reach the top of the backboard, you just climb up and hang over. These guys climbed the backboards by putting one foot on each supporting pole and just walking up.
Almost done. I didn't pay attention to the graffiti they covered up. Maybe it says "Bruce Pearl had me over for a bar-b-q!"
Yesterday there were several smaller boys (including Johannes, our next door neighbor) shooting baskets at the opposite end of the court from the really serious game. I decided this was a good opportunity to join them. I was teaching them the old "give and go" play. They liked that, and ran around the court in their bare feet.
Cement dust is every where. The court now has only a thousand rough spots on it, but the areas under the baskets are smooth. Later we were joined by Siska, Fine, Duma and Leonne. Siska has great form in her jump shot. Duma has an awesome "over the head" bomber shot from long distance, and Fine is definitely a tough "in the paint" player. Leonne preferred to stand on the sidelines and give Batak dancing lessons. Even Nancy joined in and showed off some of her Hoosier shooting technique.
They also spent several days patching uneven places in the court. They used cement.
When it rains here, it pours! With a major storm beginning, everyone scattered to find banana leaves and palm branches to cover the wet cement.
The next step was to paint the backboards....pink! I'll have to ask why pink. I imagine it was the color of paint that was available.
Kids don't try this at home! When your ladder is not tall enough to reach the top of the backboard, you just climb up and hang over. These guys climbed the backboards by putting one foot on each supporting pole and just walking up.
Almost done. I didn't pay attention to the graffiti they covered up. Maybe it says "Bruce Pearl had me over for a bar-b-q!"
Yesterday there were several smaller boys (including Johannes, our next door neighbor) shooting baskets at the opposite end of the court from the really serious game. I decided this was a good opportunity to join them. I was teaching them the old "give and go" play. They liked that, and ran around the court in their bare feet.
Cement dust is every where. The court now has only a thousand rough spots on it, but the areas under the baskets are smooth. Later we were joined by Siska, Fine, Duma and Leonne. Siska has great form in her jump shot. Duma has an awesome "over the head" bomber shot from long distance, and Fine is definitely a tough "in the paint" player. Leonne preferred to stand on the sidelines and give Batak dancing lessons. Even Nancy joined in and showed off some of her Hoosier shooting technique.
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