Neither Jon nor I grew up playing soccer. Neither Jon nor I were particularly fond of the idea of placing our kids in soccer, because it's a sport that we're not particularly fond of.
Then we had kids.
Soccer and kids just seem to go hand in hand! Add to it that the sports we DO prefer (basketball, baseball, football) require significantly more coorination that kids under 5 typically don't have, and soccer quickly became a winning proposition. What better way to get kids to run around and get exercise than to put them on a field with their friends and chase a ball around!
I made the mistake, enroute to her first practice, of excitedly telling Amara that she was going to do something that neither her Daddy or I had done. Instant tears. No kidding. When asked why she was crying, she said, "I'm shy to try soccer."
Those of you who know Amara know she's anything but shy!
I guaranteed her that I'd stay with her, she'd have fun, I'd even kick the ball with her if she didn't want to leave my side.
We arrived at the field. After much looking and a bathroom break, we found her team. She tested the waters, then turned to me and said, "OK, you can go get the car."
No... not so that she could leave... but because a massive soaking thunderstorm was imminent. Upon testing the water, she determined she'd be OK with her coach and her new friends. She determined it was safe and probably would be fun.
Here she is meeting her new friends and her coach:
Then we had kids.
Soccer and kids just seem to go hand in hand! Add to it that the sports we DO prefer (basketball, baseball, football) require significantly more coorination that kids under 5 typically don't have, and soccer quickly became a winning proposition. What better way to get kids to run around and get exercise than to put them on a field with their friends and chase a ball around!
I made the mistake, enroute to her first practice, of excitedly telling Amara that she was going to do something that neither her Daddy or I had done. Instant tears. No kidding. When asked why she was crying, she said, "I'm shy to try soccer."
Those of you who know Amara know she's anything but shy!
I guaranteed her that I'd stay with her, she'd have fun, I'd even kick the ball with her if she didn't want to leave my side.
We arrived at the field. After much looking and a bathroom break, we found her team. She tested the waters, then turned to me and said, "OK, you can go get the car."
No... not so that she could leave... but because a massive soaking thunderstorm was imminent. Upon testing the water, she determined she'd be OK with her coach and her new friends. She determined it was safe and probably would be fun.
Here she is meeting her new friends and her coach:
Dominic is NOT on her team. He's on the Blue team, which will have it's first practice on Saturday. However, he was as excited, and possibly MORE excited than Amara about her practice. I couldn't convince him to stand next to me on the sidelines. His preference was to stand by the goal and continually kick the in the ball! At least his priorities are straight!
Once he realized the girls were introducing themselves, he walked over to the circle, patted Amara on the head, said, "She's my sister!" then proceeded to the inside of the circle and proudly announced, "I'm Dominic!" He was ready to play -- and the fact that it was an all girls plus Dominic team seemed like a great idea to him!
Once he realized the girls were introducing themselves, he walked over to the circle, patted Amara on the head, said, "She's my sister!" then proceeded to the inside of the circle and proudly announced, "I'm Dominic!" He was ready to play -- and the fact that it was an all girls plus Dominic team seemed like a great idea to him!
While he won't be a permanent part of the team, the coach was nice enough to let him join them for practice today. They got to do stretches and jumping jacks. Who's with me on thinking that little kid jumping jacks are about the cutest thing in the world? HA!
Practice ended after a very short 15 minutes. The skies opened up and the rains came down.
And Amara turned to me and said, "Mommy... I LOVE soccer!"
And Amara turned to me and said, "Mommy... I LOVE soccer!"
1 comment:
That's awesome! My kids would like to play soccer, but here they have games and practices on Saturdays AND Sundays and you can't opt out of Sunday practices/games. You either commit to some Sundays or you don't play. Since we can't do that because of church, they can't play soccer.
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