Tom plays basketball on Wednesdays with a bunch of his school friends. They call themselves The Ballers. He is new to the game but is starting to improve, though building confidence is a slow process. So too building skills, which occurs slowly, unless you happen to be one of those kids who seems to be a natural at sport. They are rare enough though and most of us have to work at it. But underlying becoming good at something is having confidence in yourself sufficient to take risks. Just to hold on to a ball and not feel compelled to get rid of it requires some faith in yourself.

The Ballers are a stylish lot and the tendency to all have the same haircut with a long fringe attracts considerable mirth from parents during a game. There is as much flicking of the hair as passing of the ball, so one parent came up with this solution yesterday.