Basketball - last game gift

This year, my second-grade son expressed interest in playing basketball for the school's team. I was so very excited because this was his first time expressing interest in a team sport. I've never been and I refuse to be one of those parents who lives through their kids -- you know the ones who push their kids to start a sport when the child can't even talk or say "yes, I want to try that." I believe in giving your children options and yes, there are times you want to give them a nudge to try something out. I don't want my kids to be couch potatoes, but I also don't want them to feel pressure to participate in a sport just because I said so. But, it was so nice to hear him say he wanted to play for his school. ~sigh~  I also couldn't wait to see him wearing a jersey. So cute!!

Anyway, the season is now over. It was a lot of fun for me to watch my son grow and learn what it's like to be part of a team. He had little to no experience starting out, but really learned a lot by the end of the season. 

His teammates consisted of boys from 2nd through 4th grade. Quite an age difference, but the older ones were actually pretty nice to him. They didn't make fun of him when he could barely dribble the ball and they cheered when his ball finally hit the rim (like I said, he didn't have a lot of experience). Now, he truly likes the sport and since we didn't have a basketball hoop at home (we were waiting for one of the kids to show an interest before purchasing one), we are planning to buy one now for spring. Any suggestions? We want the adjustable kind that goes in the ground. I must do some research. 

For his last game, I made each of the boys on his team a snack bag. It included an orange Gatorade, a basketball sugar cookie that I made myself using a friend's awesome sugar cookie recipe and small basketball chocolates that I got at Party City. I also included a small bouncy basketball because it went with the theme and I thought it was cute. I put everything in an orange lunch sack, folded over the top and stapled the cookie to the outside to keep it closed. Not sure why I didn't get a picture of that. 

I designed labels to go around the Gatorade bottles as well as for the cookie bags:

Then, for his coach, I made him a clipboard personalized with his first name and last name initial on top and then attached a cookie and gift card for him. We decided to give him a gift card because devoting time to teaching a team and being away from family isn't easy and we wanted him to know his time was appreciated. 

So, what do you think of the sugar cookies? They actually kind of look like basketballs, don't they? : )