Dallas Thunder Videos

I have created a few highlight videos for all 2009 Dallas Thunder teams. You can find them by clicking here.

NCHBC Results

March 16th - March 21st our family attended the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships. It is an amazing event. This year it was held in Springfield, Missouri. Over 340 teams from all over the country participated.


Scouts from the following division 1 schools were in attendance: Georgetown, Tennessee, South Florida, Miami, Oral Roberts, Missouri State, Arkansas Little Rock and Alabama. Plus there were dozens of scouts and college coaches form other schools like Mid-America University, SE Missouri State, Crown Christian College, Barclay College, Pensacola, North Dakota, Pittsburg State, Drury College and SW LA.

Pictures from the week long tournament are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnhelms/NCHBC2009

As you know, Shawn plays for the Dallas Thunder.  His 12 and under team went into the tournament ranked #1 in the country.  They did not play great, but played well enough to get to the championship game.  In that game,  they played the Oklahoma Storm.  The OK Storm is historically the strongest homeschool basketball organization in the country. They have won a ton of national championships and have had some great players over the years. For example, Blake Griffin, a player for the Oklahoma Sooners, was homeschooled. Blake and his brother Taylor both played for the OK Storm. Blake Griffin is projected to be the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Not bad . . .

Shawn's team got killed in the championship game. The OK Storm was just too big and talented. Four (or maybe all five) of their starting 5 were actually 13 years old, but qualified for 12 and under because of their birthday was after the cutoff. Shawn's team is a smaller, jump shot team that beats other teams with their quickness and defense. In this game, the OK Storm was able to put pressure on our guards and just killed us down low. In one possession the Storm had something like 7 offensive rebounds. There is no beating that kind of dominance down low.



Shawn's team ended up getting second place. The boys were disappointed but understood that it would have been a very tall order to beat that team.

Shawn was one of 3 kids on the Thunder chosen for the 12U All American team.

Shawn also played for a 10 and under USA team.  USA teams are made up of players that simply show up at Nationals and play together. Often these are younger siblings of players on other teams. Shawn still qualifies to play 10 and under because is birthday is late in the year. Shawn had a conflict in the first game and was not able to get there until the 3rd period. By that time, his team was down by 20 points to, none other than, the OK Storm. (I know, it is crazy that our family played them in every age division). His team lost that game. The OK Storm went on to win the national championship.

Shawn's team went into the lower bracket (5A). Shawn was able to make every other game, leading his team to the championship in the lower, 5A bracket. Shawn totally dominated the 10 and under division.  It was funny to see him in that age group. He was one of the tallest and clearly the best player on the court. Shawn was selected as an All American in the 10 and under division.

Noelle played on a 10 and under USA girls team. Noelle's team was made up of girls from Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kansas and Texas.  They had a low ranking and had to play the Oklahoma Storm in the first round.

Noelle's team played great and took out the OK Storm in the first game. That knocked the Storm into the lower bracket and Noelle's team moved into the championship bracket (6A bracket). When the week was done, her team, with one loss, ended up getting 3rd place in the highest bracket. An amazing accomplishment for 7 girls that have never played together. Noelle and her friend Brittany made All American in girls 10 and under.

The Next Rembrandt?

We have a new problem in the Helms family. Skylin now loves to draw with markers. The real problem is that she likes to color on things other than paper. For example . . .

our kitchen wall

Her hand

the pier in our entryway

our bathroom cabinets

our living room couch

and on her baby brother's head . . .

National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championship

Shawn Jr. plays for a homeschool basketball team through an organization called Dallas Thunder. Thunder is a competitive Christian basketball organization made up of homeschooled students in the D/FW metroplex. Next week, we travel to Springfield, Missouri for the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships. This is the national tournament for competitive homeschool basketball teams. The tournament is a week long event that will have about 350 teams from all over the United States.

Out of 30 teams, Shawn's team is seeded #1 in their age division (12U) and is expected to do well. They will certainly have a lot of pressure on them. This is the biggest stage for a homeschool basketball team. Just think of Shawn's team as North Carolina in the "big dance" of homeschool basketball teams. We are looking forward to watching them compete.

Noelle is also playing. She will be on a team that they call Team USA. These are teams of players that simply show up at Nationals and play together. Obviously they will have an uphill battle, but she is looking forward to participating.

We are also looking forward to watching Taber Spani play. Taber is a player from Lee's Summit Missouri who was recently named a McDonald's High School All American and late last year accepted a full-ride scholarship to play at Tennessee. She is an amazing player and the first homeschool student to be named a McDonald's All American.

I will keep you updated as the tournament progresses.

Deep Thoughts

Triniti asked Misty and I the following question - "Why does God watch over us if he knows what is going to happen in the future."