Soccer

Soccer has started. I hadn't yet written about the first day, because I was waiting to see how it would go. We've had 2 games now, and I'm pretty confident in saying there's room for a little improvment

Months ago, there was a sign-up sheet for the youth recreational league soccer sitting there all invity looking mext to the day care sign in paper. So I grabbed one. Ally was absolutely sure she was a great soccer player. It was all those times she sat potato-like on the couch watching Dora play. The sad truth of the matter is that Ally had never once played soccer. She'd never even seen a real game. And, I have a sneaking suspiscion that she's going to be just as coordinated as I was at her age. (Which, of course, I don't remember, and have just extrapolated based on how coordinated I wasn't in junior high). But, Ally has absoluelty no drive to win. She has no competitive spirit. For the last 5 years, we've been teaching her to share, and take turns. Sports are foreign to her. I'm not saying she shares all the time, but she certainly expects others to. I already worry about her being a little too fragile, so I wa thinking that maybe getting her into a sports program would help her learn to toughen upjust a little. And it always sucks when you try to join sports and everyone else has already been playing for 5 years, and you're a newbie. I didn't want to miss the boat. So I was all for it.

Rob was not. He played soccer as a kid and loved it. He thinks that Ally is too fragile for it, and not having that competitivce edge is going to sour her on the sports experience as a whole. He thinks she's too young. But, he's willing to go along with it since I felt differently. So I signed her up and crossed my fingers.

Last Tuesday was our first game. The first time Ally had ever played on a soccer team. They have practice for half hour before the game, but the league was horribly disorganized, so there was barely time for any of that. Ally had been warned repeatedly that this was not a "taking turns" kind of game, and that if you wanted to kick the ball, you have to run for it. And she didn't. She walked around the field nowhere near the ball. She picked grass so that we could "use them for points" - whatever that means. She got to play goalie once, and actually did a pretty good job, but there's no team feeling there. I don't want her to be goalie all the time (which isn't a worry, because they switch around very often at this age). she refused to run. She cried because she didn't get a chance to kick the ball. But honestly? She did better than I had expected. She stayed on the field. She stayed pretty interested. And when we left, she cried because she wasn't good at it. And my heart broke into a million little pieces. So we celebrated her trying. We explained the rules again, and told her she'd get her chance if she ran faster. And I hoped so hard that I hadn't hurt her by pushing her before she was ready.

And then Thursday's game was rained out. So we had to wait until last night to see what impact the first game had on her. Would she start the game sad from the memory of the first game? Would she get over it and try harder? Would she miss the point again? Was Rob right, and I should have waited longer?

Well, we had no confusion, so she got a full 30 minutes of practice. They got their t-shirts in, so she could tell who was on her team. And her coach really did well to encourage her. She had a positive attitude, and ran a lot more. She knew what to expect, and was a little less lost. Did she kick the ball very much? not really. But she did chase it. And she was involved in the game. She stopped a goal again when it was her turn to be goalie. But, apparently, she is going to take after her father. It's a good thing they don't call fouls on 4 year olds.

 

And, of course, Anya had to get in on the action a little too. When Ally got her team shirt, Anya insisted on having a soccer shirt too. So I put Ally's old one on her and she ran around kicking like crazy. For some reason, I don't think we'll have as many worries when it comes time for her to play.

Comments

[leigh]

cute. she'll do fine. give her time. ask my parents about me doing cartwheels in the backfield. :) My daughter starts soccer in 2 weeks

[jill]

that's awesome. I dont know a thing about soccer, you obviously know why, but I've seen every single A-name kid go through baseball. The first couple of games, they throw dirt in the air or pick grass in the outfield. They play in the dirt while the ball drops beside them. They throw to the wrong person or hold onto it. Eventually, they start to get it. I think it's great that you explained things to her ahead of time and at the end instead of just screaming at her. And that both parents were involved.

All I remember about baseball is dad throwing the ball at me, once i was already on the team and doing bad, not ahead of time, and never explaining anything about the game and then telling me I played ball like a girl. Um, and, your point is WHAT? I AM a girl. Never explained anything once. Needless to say, I hated it. I felt so inadequate because of the chromosomes I had been given pre-birth. He'd yell at me and stomp off and say I wasn't trying. I would just cry because I didnt know what I was supposed to do. And then I have the experience a couple of years ago of seeing Matthew teach his sister to catch a ball. Completely different. And within 5 minutes, she'd caught a ball and was laughing. She even laughed (after she cried) when the ball hit her square in the nose. Her own dad didnt work with her, but her big brother did. She may not go out for that sport right now, but I'm confident she could if she wanted to. She never gave up because she was encouraged and not put down because of having a hoo-ha instead of a dangly thing. And I think that's made all the difference for her. And I'm confident no matter what chromosomes our baby has, that it will never be put down in our household for it, and that if they truly enjoy a sport, they'll try because they've been given support. Way to go KT!

[FishyGirl]

I think it's interesting that they even have competitive soccer for that age group there. Even here in Competition City, we have noncompetitive, learn the game skills leagues until the kids are about 8. They they get into the hardcore stuff. It sounds to me like she did a great job and will have fun. :-)

[Aunt ruth]

I can still vividly remember Marley's first soccer game last year. The whistle blew, the other team kicks the ball and Marley.........reaches down and picks it up. It seemed like time stood still for a very long time. The referee had to come and take the ball from her. After that, for the rest of the game she barely moved. Just started practicing for her second year and she has greatly improved.

[arizaphale]

It's great to get kids interested in sport early but the main thing is to keep it FUN! When the BA started netball we didn't even keep score which made the other coaches think we were completely mad. To be honest, there wasn't much score on our side to keep but HEY WHATEVA!!!!!!
I'm really glad she obviously enjoyed herself. So, just like Dad he? Hugging half the team and shoving the other half :-)
Oh btw, the BA had a 'reputation' in one netball season. Other teams cowered as she approached!!!!!