Soccer Saturdays

Our girls like to play. Some are more competitive than others (*cough, Clara, cough*) but both like to engage in activities with other kids. We heard that soccer is all the rage now in the U.S., which clearly wasn't the case in the 1980's when I was growing up, so we decided to sign them up for it. For approximately 2 months, the girls will be kicking and running and actually learning soccer techniques such as dribbling and passing and scoring. I verified these are actual soccer terms by the way, as I have no clue about the sport. So I go out and buy them shin guards and Umbro shorts and Mary manages to get Grace a hand-me-down pair of cleated sneakers. They are ready to play.

So now it's time, first Saturday of the season. Grace's session with the 5-6 year olds are up first. She shows enthusiasm for the game and playing with the other kids. "This is great", I'm thinking. Even if Grace isn't the most aggressive or competitive kid out there (her mantra is "do your best and forget about the rest") she isn't taken aback by the kids that are. As you might expect with 5-6 year olds, the practice and "game" is pretty scattered and filled with kids that don't listen or try to pick up the ball with their hands or involve a single larger, more aggressive boy simply kicking the ball as hard and as far as he can. Repeatedly. Grace loves playing, loves socializing with the kids on the sidelines during breaks and even won a sportsmanship medal after week 3 for listening to her coaches. Totally worth the money.

Now it's time for Clara's group, the 3-4 year olds. I'm a little nervous on week one as Clara has had to sit and watch her sister for an hour before it was her turn. Repeated proclaims of being hungry, bored, tired and lots of "no's" coming from her mouth didn't give me the greatest confidence that she was going to embrace organized soccer. My fears were justified. She made zero attempt to even get on the field, in spite of my pleas to make me proud, show me how big of a girl she was, etc etc. Nothing but crying, hiding and pouting. She even employed her go-to when pushed to do something she doesn't want to do, throw things. Week 1 was a bust. She probably spent all of 10 minutes of a 60 minute session actually out on the field while I held her hand. Week 2 doesn't go much better. She promises me she will try harder that week but the reality is that the first half hour she spends holding my hand on the sides, agreeing to go out as long as I'm with her and then deciding she's thirsty or doesn't want to participate and we go back to the sidelines again. She latches onto one of  the female coaches half way through and holds her hand while I retreat to the sidelines again. Progress I guess.

Week 3 comes and the 3-4 year old group is thinning. I'm guessing many parents have experienced what I did in those first 2 weeks with their kids and decided it was a waste of time. I, on the other hand, am pleased I didn't do the same (mostly because I'm already taking Grace there anyway and the session is paid in full ahead of time and what a colossal waste of money if I don't take her every week). Clara still insists I go with her onto the field during practice time but she listens to the coaches, unlike all the other boys on the field who just keep kicking and kicking and kicking. During one drill, the coach singles her out to the rest of the kids so she can show them how to properly kick the ball towards a cone, rest her foot on the ball, and bend over and pick up the cone to turn it over. Apparently none of the other kids were doing it correctly. She rocked practice. Game time and the randomness of playing a game of organized soccer with 3-4 year olds is expected. Blue team kicking it into their own goals. Some kids attempt to take it away from their teammates. Other kids stand in place and never move. A couple of larger and more aggressive boys continue to dominate the game and Clara decides this is all just too much and retreats to the sidelines. Even though she is super competitive, she doesn't see this game as something worth her time. However, when the medal is handed out at the end of the session and she does not get it, she cries. There's always next week.