Qatar Foundation Basketball

Besides their school teams, Max and Simon also play basketball for a couple of Qatar Foundation teams. Simon's Under 16 team played games weekly along with regular practices. Max's Under 19 team played in several exhibition games.  Together they participated in a 3on3 competition for National Sports Day in February.

Because of the variety of teams and leagues, it sometimes happened that Max and Simon would play against each other.  Picture on the left shows Simon in green #13 for Qatar Foundation and Max in red #13 for Qatar Academy. This occurrence was both exciting and stressful for Tim and Lisa.

Below is a video of 25 seconds of play during one of their last games against each other. Simon scores first and in less than 15 seconds Max returns the favour.

Simon's green team brings the ball down the court, the shooter misses and Simon "finishes" it for 2 points. Then Max's white team brings the ball in and Max takes it down the court. He attempts to pass but Simon tips it off. Then Max gets it again and puts it in the basket for 2 points. 

Varsity Basketball

The Qatar Academy Varsity Basketball Team has also participated in a couple of leagues this year -- local and international. Max #13 and his team played in a "Gentleman's League" for most of the winter. It was a great experience for these young men to play against much bigger, more experienced, older men. It was usually a fun Thursday evening.

Girls' and Boys' Varsity Teams on their way to NESAC tournament in Kuwait

And last weekend the Varsity Team flew to Kuwait to participate in the Near East School Activities Conference. Simon was invited to "play up" to the Varsity level. The team played well but lost a couple of games by one, two, or three points.

Shortly after the above picture was taken, Max was injured during the second game and could not play (or run or walk or jump) for the rest of the weekend. He brought his energy to the bench and led the team's cheering!

Junior Varsity Basketball

This year Max and Simon have played on several basketball teams in a variety of leagues. As the seasons come to a close there are tournaments to play! First, the Qatar Academy Junior Varsity Team played in a league of local schools in Doha. Simon #7 played for this team and in February they won first place.

The first weekend in March Simon played in another Junior Varsity Basketball tournament for Qatar Academy. Teams from Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan came to Doha to participate in the Near East Student Activities Conference.

It was an exhausting weekend. Simon's team played seven games and won all seven! They took the First Place banner and trophy.

Weekend without Max and Simon

This weekend Max and Simon are in Kuwait playing basketball. This means that Tim and Lisa have had four days alone with no need to be running teenagers anywhere. What freedom!!

On Friday they took advantage of the day off and the cool weather to explore the northern shore of Qatar.
With friends they discovered an area of good fishing and camping along the coast and even found a little shade for a picnic.

Then on Saturday Tim and Lisa took a stroll on the Corniche and explored the new park by Souq Waqif. There is an underground tunnel to get from the water to the park. It is beautifully made with marble floors, arabesque lighting, and mosaic wall pictures -- not much like an underground tunnel at all.

The park has several features: flowers, paths, water fountains, exercise equipment, children's playground, and an amphitheatre. It is really beautiful and well laid out and has a stunning view of the Gulf and the downtown buildings.

"Frost"

In sympathy with our Canadian friends who are still buried in snow and waiting for the last weeks of winter to pass, we want to share our "frost" with you. Every morning before going to work or school we also have to clean our windshields from the overnight accumulation of ........ sand!

Birthdays

Yesterday Max celebrated his 17th birthday! We gave him a car and a new pair of basketball sneakers. For you car enthusiasts, it is chocolate! For you sneakerheads they are Jordan XX9, Year of the Goat colourway.

Also yesterday Vergie celebrated her 50th birthday! She was thrilled with her cake and milestone candle.