Memories of the Orthodox basketball league live on in the hearts and minds of many men in our congregation. Growing up, playing on the league was a time-honored tradition steeped in pride and friendly competition between other Orthodox churches in the region. My husband Van recalls with fondness what a big part of his youth the league was for him and his friends. It's been many years since St. Dimitrie had a team in the league. Our son Ethan often talked of starting one, but with so few young people of the same age in our church family, it wasn't possible to put together a team.

 Our God, the One who answers prayers and works things out for good, made Ethan's dream come true this past winter. A friend from school attends Holy Trinity in Bridgeport and invited Ethan to play on the team. When the athletic director, Chris Danas, and Father George Livaditis welcomed Ethan to the team with a warm embrace, who knew that history was in the making? We attended every game and if I told you that these games were the most exciting we've ever watched, it would be an understatement; perhaps when you play for God's teams, the stakes are that much higher. These kids on the varsity team were the smallest in the league, with other teams literally towering over them, which makes a challenging sport even more difficult. After being defeated in a tough first game, it would have been easy to lose hope for the season ahead. Coach Chris worked hard to bring the scrappy team together and, with more heart and soul than I've ever witnessed on an athletic team, these young men and women (yes, two girls played on their team!), managed to upset the entire league and bring home the first championship title in 11 years! No one saw that coming! When everything was against them, when they were down by double digits, when it felt like David versus Goliath, the chant in their team huddle with Coach and Father George was "You gotta believe!" And believe they did.

 Riding the wave of God's blessings on the team, Coach decided to do something Holy Trinity hadn't done in 20 years; he took the team to the Agganis Tournament outside of Boston; Ethan was invited to participate. This was serious competition. The first game was on a Friday night and I don't think they were expecting to win, but again, against the odds, they won by 30 points. Saturday's game was against a team who had won the tournament 5 times in 7 years; Holy Trinity beat them in overtime. They played 5 tough games in 48 hours and in the end, this bunch of young believers won the entire tournament by beating out the local allstars.

 An utterly amazing feat!

 While all the wins at the tournament were thrilling, the real take-away was not on the scoreboard. These young boys, active in their church and believers in their hearts, demonstrated something beautiful to the coaches, organizers, and parents of the other teams. Over the course of 2 full days of basketball, strangers watched these boys on and off the court. They saw their team spirit. They watched their camaraderie. While other team members went their separate ways between games, they saw the Holy Trinity gang share meals, laugh together, and connect in a way that made others take notice. During some roughness and challenges on the court, people watched this team take the high road, showing great character, kindness, tolerance, restraint, and respect. This was the attitude off the court as well, and Coach came home to tell us how many people made it a point to tell him how much they admired his team, their behavior, and their positive attitudes. These young folks not only represented Holy Trinity and St. Dimitrie, but they represented some of the best of what Jesus teaches us. We recently attended a ceremony at Holy Trinity honoring all the sports teams. Our hearts were full of pride when Ethan was awarded the Coach's Award for demonstrating character and integrity. The experience playing for Holy Trinity as a representative for St. Dimitrie was one that touched Ethan and our whole family in so many ways. We are thrilled that Ethan had the opportunity to represent our church to others and to connect with other Orthodox youth outside of church; that means so much. As members of the St. Dimitrie family, we are humbled, again and again, by the kindness, generosity, support, and love that are shared with us here. Everyone who has been embraced by St. Dimitrie, and Orthodoxy, takes that with them and shares it wherever they go. I know we do. We are truly blessed, and we thank you.

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