CHARLOTTESVILLE — Aly Spaulding points to a photo in her dad’s office.
She’s 2-years-old in the picture. Dad, Eastern Hancock boys basketball coach Aaron Spaulding, is holding her right after the Royals won the 2003 Triton Central Sectional.
“It’s been in my blood forever,” Aly, a senior on the Royals’ girls’ basketball team, said.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
She’s talking about the game of basketball.
It’s in the Spauldings’ blood.
There’s probably a combination in that fluid that runs in the family’s veins. Some Royal Blue, of course, but a lot of basketball orange, too.
It may have started with Dad, now in his 21st season as the Royals head coach, but it has been passed down through all four of Aaron and Jennifer Spaulding’s children.
All were coached by dad in either church leagues or youth clubs until they were in fifth grade, when they began competing on school teams.
It started with Hope, a 2016 EH graduate and all-conference performer during her days in the blue and white. The Royals just missed having their version of the Spaulding Sister Act, as Aly was an eighth-grader when Hope graduated. Aly is a starter on this year’s team.
Twin boys, Silas and Jacob, got the same coaching regimen.
If you think an 82-game NBA season is long, you should try a Spaulding season.
In 2016, when Hope was playing in her final high school campaign, there were 88 games in the Spaulding household between the four children and dad’s high school games.
“A lot of our family time is spent in the gym,” Aly said. “It’s so weird, a lot of times I hear someone say, ‘I don’t want concessions,’ a lot of times that was my dinner because we were always in the gym, lots of hot dogs and popcorn.
“Basketball has made our family stronger, especially this year.”
This year is extra special.
Silas and Jacob are now freshmen at Eastern Hancock. After standout careers at the middle school level, the pair are part of the varsity team and have joined their father on the big stage of Friday night high school hoops.
“It’s different. No. 1, it’s nice that we’re all on the same schedule,” the veteran coach said. “It’s been good. I try to make sure I differentiate times when I’m coach and times where I’m dad, because that’s two different modes of communication.
“We’ve had to work on that, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job. At home, we just want to be home and when we’re here we’re working on basketball.”
As freshmen, the 5-foot-9 guards have been eased into the roles as varsity players. Both are playing around 15-16 minutes per game (about half a game) on a youthful Royals team that includes four sophomores, two juniors and only one senior starter. Silas and Jacob both come off the bench.
“First, I’m his son. Second, I’m his player,” Silas, who is seven minutes older than Jacob, said. “He doesn’t give me any special treatment, but I do call him ‘Dad’ on the court. He treats me like a player and I play my hardest.”
“Whenever we started summer workouts, I knew I had a chance (to be a varsity player),” Jacob said. “I just wanted to do as best as I could. If I could make varsity, great, or JV, either one. I wanted to show him I’m not only your son, but I want to be a contributor to this team.
“I just didn’t want to be on the roster because I’m his son.”
Both are contributing on a team that, in spite of being very young, is 6-6 on the season. They are usually two of the first players off the bench.
At 6.5 points per game, Silas is the team’s third-leading scorer. Jacob is averaging 1.3 assists per game, which is fourth on the team.
“Sometimes, I think they do great. Sometimes, I’m madder than all get out at them, just like any other player,” coach Spaulding said. “Sometimes, I’m frustrated with them. Sometimes, I’m really proud of them. It has its ebbs and flows.
“It’s important that we communicate and I can effectively change hats from coach to dad. I don’t ever want that to flow over into home if I’m frustrated with them. If I’m ever mad at them or they’re mad at me, we want to talk it over before we get home. That’s been really important.”
They separate the coach-player relationship at home, but it doesn’t mean that basketball isn’t a predominant topic when the Spaulding’s move from the basketball floor to the easy chairs and sofa at home.
As Aly mentioned, the game of basketball is in their blood.
They have a family NCAA pool with a ‘traveling’ trophy, an old Gus Macker tournament prize Aaron won back in his playing days. It sits in his office at the school, though his wife Jennifer, he said, is the most recent winner.
Jacob said his most fun family moments revolve around the game. Even though the family has spent so much time at the school, those favorite moments aren’t playing or watching another family member on the court.
“I really like it when all six of us are going to a college game or a Pacers game,” he said. “I enjoy it when we’re all together instead of one of us on the court, whether that’s watching a game live or watching a game at home.”
“A lot of memories, too many to count,” Silas said, of his favorite family hoop moments. “I just love being at basketball.
“Basketball makes me happy.”
