We’re actually deep into Track season, but I don’t have any pictures of Track to post just yet. Stay tuned, though.

So instead I have one last picture from basketball season. I always appreciate the gifts I receive from my teams, and I always enjoy noting the differences between gifts from girls vs. boys.

This year, while the girls were giving out flowers, and signed pictures, and other such cute keepsakes and mementos, I got a bag filled with these goodies. All of these things, for the record, are nearly impossible to come by in Austria. Well done boys!

You probably can’t see this, but that can of Campbell’s soup is Beans and Bacon. Could there be a more appropriate gift from a group of goofy middle school boys, than that?

Since I don’t have an assistant coach, I usually put one or two of my boys in charge of keeping the score book. However, when I make a lot of substitutions the book gets passed around a bit.

If you’re looking at the score book and wondering who was draining 3-pointers like crazy last night, you aren’t the only one. You’re probably having trouble reading the name, but apparently “Grandma” played last night and put on a shooting display for the ages.

I guess I should have been playing her all season!

The Middle School Basketball (Boy + Eagles = Beagles) team continues to impress. After starting the season 4-0, we suffered our first loss in a hard-fought match against AIS Vienna.

We rebounded with a win against DIS, went 2-1 at our mid-season Festival in Budapest, and finished off a run of 7 games in 9 days with two more wins.

Our first game of the new year yielded another win for the Eagles. Or, as we’re now known, the “Beagles.” Shorthand for Boy Eagles. Apparently we needed to distinguish ourselves from the girl Eagles.

The home court at QSI Bratislava, if you can’t tell is in a bubble gym with and astroturf surface. This always makes dribbling a little adventurous. Entering the gym involves opening an outer door, crowding into a small entryway, making sure the outer door is shut, then pushing open the inner door to the gym. Opening both doors at the same time would begin deflating the gym.

In any case, the “Beagles” shook off the rust accumulated over Christmas break, played well and defeated QSI Bratislava on their astroturf court.

We hit the ground running next week with games on Monday and Tuesday. Stay tuned for more updates.