Nathan finished up his season in February. They had 8 or so games in the last 2 weeks of the season. They only lost 1 game of the league play. They had two close games to the cross-town rivals, but then beat both of those teams by 20 points or so the second time they played. They were the league champions, moving on to the CIF Tournament. They won the first game but lost in the second round. Their team had a good season. Nathan never got much playing time, but he was glad to be on the team. He played a few minutes in the Senior Night game. We were really grateful just to be able to participate in Senior Night. We had an interesting experience with that. On Thursday January 27th, we got a message saying the last home game (and Senior Night) was moved to Sunday February 6th. I sent a message right away to the athletic director, asking if it was possible to move the game because Nathan wouldn't be able to play due to religious reasons. The reply was, "No, we had no other choice. We can't move it." We were really bummed. Nathan already knew he wouldn't go to the Sunday game. We went to his "last" home game that night. I held back tears as the game ended. Alex and I stayed until Nathan came out of the locker room. By that time, the gym was completely empty, except for Nathan's coach. We snapped a couple pictures and talked to his coach, who was also disappointed with the Sunday game. He knew that Nathan and also his assistant coach, who is a pastor, wouldn't be able to be at the game. His coach said he'd try to get the game moved, but didn't know if they could. I was sad that Nathan probably wouldn't get his moment of recognition, but then I thought this might be his "moment" to stand up for what he believes and not waver. He was literally standing alone in the gym that night, as a shining example to his coach and team. Nathan had more faith than me and said we could pray. We did that, and I also fasted the next day. I sent another message that next morning to the athletic director, pleading again to look for other options. I got a reply, "We're working on it." Hope! A few hours later, they notified me they were able to move the game to Saturday night (the 5th). That required moving an entire wrestling tournament earlier and coordinating with the other team. Nathan's coach had gone to work the night before, fighting for Nathan, questioning the athletic director about whether they were really going to exclude 2 people for religious reasons.
I felt like it was a test for Nathan to see if he would be willing to sacrifice and stick to his beliefs even when it was something he really wanted. It would have been easy to make an exception or say "this one time", but he stuck to his beliefs. I'm really proud of him for that. He's been consistent about not playing games or practicing on Sundays the whole season, so his coach and team already knew Nathan wasn't going to be able to participate. We were glad they were able to move the game and got to participate in Senior Night after all. Alex and I got to walk out with Nathan before the game. They announced his 4.4 GPA and plans to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This was the first and only game that our whole family was able to be there to watch as well, so that was extra special.
It's hard to believe he's done with basketball... he may not have got much playing time this season, but he learned a lot of valuable lessons by being part of a team: discipline, hard work, teamwork, showing up, leadership, supporting roles, and opportunities to show his character. I hope he'll also remember that I was there to support him at nearly every game (out of about 30 games this season, I only missed 2 games). We've been to A LOT of basketball games (and that was just this year)! It's been fun to watch him throughout his sports seasons. He's grown and developed so much - I'm glad he found something that he really loves doing.
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