Soccer

Nathan joined a soccer league this year.  With all of Katherine's activities, driving to and fro, it was starting to wear on the little dude and he needed something for himself.

We learned a lot, as parents, about how children act at home as opposed to how they act on the field, or how 3 year olds in general are that borderline age for starting them in an organized sport, or even how a female coach brings out different behavior than a male coach.

Nathan made a buddy on his soccer team, J.  Him and J were both 3 and they seemed to hit it off immediately.  It did help that J's family also included a mom and dad, a big sister, a middle brother and J was the youngest, all about 3 years apart.  They could relate.

When soccer first started, it seemed like Nathan had more important things to do instead of play soccer.

He was a little perturbed that there was only 1 ball and that the other kids kept taking it away from him.

But occasionally, something would click and he was off to the races.

Brandon wasn't a big fan of the bright morning sun, sitting, sweating and watching kids run around during his morning nap time.  But he managed.  Easy-going little fella.

Nathan's coach was Miss G.  She was awesome with the kids.  Very patient and made practice and the games fun for them.  But we noticed the first and second game in, that Nathan was not that interested in even standing on the field.  He wanted to lay on the grass between our two chairs, in the shade I guess.  No amount of bribing or talking to him made him change his mind, until the male coach stepped in.

Mr. J was the league director and I asked him if he would have a man-to-man talk with Nathan about trying his best for the game.  And whaddyaknow, little stinker went running out onto the field and gave it his all for the next 10 minutes or so.

We certainly had some interesting players on our team.  We had:

• The Attack-Hugger.  This kid ran from one end of the field to the other, no relation to where the ball was, up on the hill, down near the cars, around the bleachers and would zero in on a teammate then run at them and bear hug them.  I'm starting to think his parents enrolled him in soccer for their own exercise regiment.
• The Which-Way-Did-It-Go Kid:  He pretty much stood in the middle of the field, mouth wide open, and stared in the direction of the ball, but with a 5 second lag-time.
• The Shin-Guard-Adjuster: aka The Coach's daughter.  Something must not've felt just right with her shin guards because about half of her soccer game experience was sitting on the field adjusting the guards, much to the dismay of her mom who would eventually pick her up and run with her down the field toward the ball.
• The Different-Perspective Cutie: I'm pretty sure she had just turned 2 and her specialty was to watch the game standing up with her head between her legs.  She was great at turning her body to follow the ball in play, but the majority of her soccer watching experience was all upside down.
• The Future Mia Hamm: Enough said.  She was good and carried the team.

A little pep talk.

And then the coach asked why Katherine wasn't playing.  We didn't have a good answer.  She was bored stiff watching all those kids run around while she was being forced to sit, still, NOT on my lap in the 90 degree heat.

So we had a good talk with Nathan asking him if he'd like his sister to join his team, and without hesitation he said yes.  We didn't want to steal his thunder or remove him from any spotlight he might be enjoying, so with his blessing, Katherine started the next practice.

With little to no soccer experience (no, I take that back, we played in the front yard for about half an hour total) she took off like she'd been playing for years.

She ran from one end of the field to the other, following the ball the entire time, with barely a water break.  Didn't complain about how hot it was, and it was hot, just followed the ball and waited for it to clear the crowd.

She's a cautious player.  It's not her style to jump right in the middle of all the chaos and bust the ball out.  She would wait patiently until someone else puts their shins in jeopardy and when the ball would break free, she'd rush to it and steal it away.

Somehow she knew not to take it from her own teammates.  But to help them by guarding them from opposing players.  Girl has some sports intuition.

Her first game she scored multiple times.  Her father and I were awe struck.

Nathan retreated to his shady spot many times.

And needed a little encouragement.

But she was the Energizer Bunny.

He's glad soccer games are over.

Ready to play some soccer.