Elliot's first season of semi-organized basketball (with Amsterdam's Basketball 's Cool Oost) ended today. It was a really good experience for him. He had a lot of fun. He learned a lot of new skills. And he made a bunch of new friends. In short, the experience provided everything that I would hope my children could learn through involvement in sports.

I had a lot of fun being a part of things, too. Parental involvement here in the Netherlands seems to be a lot more low-key than what I've heard about with kids in the United States. There's none of the über-competitive types, angling for their kids' college scholarship opportunities or professional career. There's none of the "basketball-had-better-be-your-life-or-else" types of coaches or trainers. And there's a pleasant blurring of the lines between kids, parents, and coaches -- where everyone jokes around with each other and shoots warm-ups together and travels to tournaments together. I guess I don't really know what it's like in American basketball culture for 8-12 year olds, but I have the feeling that this particular Dutch basketball school we've fallen in with is particularly relaxed... And that suits me just fine.

Looking forward to next year already...