Ball Shagger

Our 3 boys belong to the Little Cyclone Club at Iowa State. It really is a great deal...for $50 the kids get a T-shirt and free admission to ALL of the ISU sporting events except conference men's basketball games. We really get our money out of it! There are other perks to the Club-one of them is that Cale has gotten to be a ball shagger for 3 Women's basketball games in the last 2 years. We were told that they offer this chance to kids in 6-8 grades. We got a letter and we were suppose to pick 3 games that he would be available for. Since we live close, we usually pick mid-week game hoping that those that live far away won't want to do those games--increasing our chances. Part of his responsibilities are sweeping the floor during time-outs, getting the referees drinks as they need them, and standing under the basket while the teams are warming up before the game and before the second half. Their job then is to retrieve any balls that should get away, and throw them back to the players. I asked him once how he knew where to throw them to, and he said that you just look to see who is looking at you.

This game was against Texas and was shown on ESPN2. If you are wondering, it was a "white out" game...that explains all of the white shirts you see! Before this game, some of the players, and an assistant coach, came up to him and introduced themselves and asked him his name and where he went to school. He didn't have any question about where to throw the ball this time because they would yell his name for the ball. He said how kind Kelsey Bolte and Lauren Mansfield were. Lauren happens to be Cale's favorite player and Cale told me that when she was talking to him his heart was beating so fast he could hardly breathe!! Love it! :)


One of the perks is that when the teams are in the locker rooms, the Ball Shaggers get to shoot baskets. I think (I hope!) that Cale realizes how luck he is to be able to shoot baskets on the floor of Hilton Coliseum! It certainly wasn't anything that his Dad and I were able to do when we were his age! And poor Jared...he just watches his brother shooting out there and is practically drooling! It is a dream of his to be able to shoot out there. It's just killing him! I just hope that some day they choose him to do it.