He was SO excited.
I was SO excited. You see, I played soccer as a kid as well. Not good, but I played.
We went down to the soccer shop and registered.
Then we got a call. Our team needed a coach.
I couldn't do it because I was pregnant and had just been told that I was not to do exercise.
So, Darrell and another mom from the team agreed to coach.
Darrell knows NOTHING about soccer. He is good with kids though.
The season was BAD. We lost every game. By at least 10. (We kept score, even though there was no official score)
We learned some things.
1. Ryan really does not run well.
2. Don't be a coach of a sport you know nothing about.
3. Don't start your kid in sports when they are 7 if you live in Texas. Most of the other kids on the other teams have already been playing for 3 or 4 years and they will kick your butt.
4. If you are going to be starting your kid "late" check to see if the league changes up the teams every year. If not, go find a different league.
5. Ryan really does have a problem with being attentive. (when he missed the chance at taking a ball away from another kid during a game because he was cleaning his glasses, it becomes very obvious. No wonder the swimming lessons instructor last year told us not to come back until he could be "more attentive in the water".)
6. We can not take Sam anywhere and expect her not to run off. (I had to stop going to the practices because of this. Games were really hard.)
I am sad that Ryans first experience with sports has been so bad. At least he wants to try a different sport. He thinks he can do better at baseball. Perhaps we will find out, perhaps we will not. That has not been decided yet.
Anyway, here are some pictures from a game or two.
5 comments:
Maybe he'd do better at an individual sport where it's just one-to-one, like tennis? Or, well, some kids just aren't cut out for sports. That would be me.
We'll see how Summer does with soccer - I'm registering her next week, and the season is Sept/Oct. She also wants to try dance.
I just started reading The Highly Sensitive Child by Elaine N. Aron, and it's very interesting. From what you've written about Ryan in this and other posts, I wonder if he might be one of these kids. I'm pretty sure Benjamin is, and about 20 percent of kids are--basically they take in more details than other kids, and think more deeply about those details, so they can become overwhelmed easily when there is too much stimulation, or bored/distracted when they've finished grasping/assessing a situation long before their peers). If Ryan can focus really well on something that is very interesting to him, then his lack of attention in other situations may simply be his inner life taking over when there's too much going on around him. Oh,a dn the lack of running prowess could also be part of this, since highly senstiive children tend to have well-developed fine motor skills, but less developed gross ones. Of course, I really have no idea, but you might want check out the book, since it appears to have a lot of strategies for how to help a highly sensitive child succeed in situations like group sports that are typically difficult for that 20% of kids. Or it might just help you eliminate that temperament as a possibility and look elsewhere for ideas!
Anyway, on a different note, I think it's crazy how early they start kids on sports. Mine are definitely going to be behind when we finally get around to enrolling them in something! I'm just not eager to start overloading our family's schedule. (Turns out I'm a highly sensitive person, which is why I prefer to stay home and read and write and play with my kids, and avoid busy, noisy (over-stimulating) public places...)
Heather, a long time ago I purchased a book called Parenting The Ephriams Child by Deborah Talmadge and Jaime Teler from the book store. I started reading it, but never finished it for some reason. I am planning on going back to read it soon, mostly because of Sam. Anyway, their approach is about how to help "children who are intesely more". I think that Ryan and Sam definitely fit this, and possibly Jenny even. Here is a quote from the first page that is probably why I picked up the book.
"What do good parents do when you tell your child, "No," firmly, calmly, and a clear explaination for your reasoning , and the result is a ten minute debate that finally ends with you both unhappy? HOw about whne your small child refuses to stay in her bed despite repeatedly returning her to it for an hour, or despite pleading, threats, yells, and spankings? What do you do when your child challenges you through reason, sometimes with reasoning so logical that ou ahve to stop and thing about it?"
That is something that happens almost dayly in our house. Ryan is a master debater, and will do well in debate club in HS if he is interested later on. And you have probably seen me mention before that we have to lock the girls door at night(We do unlock it before we go to bed, so that they can get out if they wake up scared or needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night) in order for Sam to go to sleep, and we have had to do that with Ryan and Jenny as well. Like I said, I need to go back and read it. I will also look into your book though. We can never get enough help right? :)
oh, to clarify, the book store I was talking about was the church book store. This book is from the LDS perspective.
Oh have I been there, done that.
My youngest daughter wanted to play soccer, so we signed her up for a team.
She was just in first grade.
She was timid, and I was stupid.
I would "cheer" from the sidelines, "go get it! kick it! kick it!"
until she said she didn't want to do it ever again.
Ugh.
I really blew it. She felt embarrassed by my "cheering" and never wants to try it again.
Someone shoulda slapped me; I'm pretty sure I deserved it.
Try again next year, if your player is willing!
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