Last summer when Brett was 3, we signed him up for soccer in Ann Arbor and Kyle coached his team. Kyle did an awesome job and loved sharing his passion with Brett....however most days Brett just sat on the sideline watching. He didn't like sharing his daddy with all the other kids, had a hard time concentrating for that long (45 minutes), and all in all just seemed too young to really get into it. Fast forward a year, and here we are again, hoping that Brett will enjoy soccer a little more, be a little braver, and maybe, just maybe, participate in the game at the end of practice. Well....we will see :-)
On the way to the first soccer practice, Brett was excited, a bit anxious, and had lots of questions for us. "How many kids are going to be on my team? Are you going to play with me, daddy? What is a Jersey?" We calmly answered all his questions the best we could, and drove up nervously to the field. Well, I don't know if Kyle was nervous...but I know Brett was and I was too. I wanted so badly for him to have a good time and not let his anxiety get in the way like it sometimes does. I wanted him to have fun and feel proud of himself...not scared and insecure. We were one of the first families there which was nice because he got to meet the coach and his two boys, and watch all the other kids arrive. The kids were given their Jersey's and then it was time for the fun to begin. Because it is a PreK group, Coach Kevin encouraged parent's to participate during the warm up's....Brett was a little unsure at first, but soon got into the fun and loved kicking the ball back and forth with his daddy!
Then it was time to pick a teammate to pass back and forth too. Brett loved that part as well and did awesome!!
Next the kids lined up and took turns making goals. Brett had some great kicks and the coach even commented on how well he was doing! So far soccer was going great and I was one happy mom!
Unfortunately, the fun didn't last though :-( The last 20 minutes of practice the kids play a real game of soccer against another team, and the parents are asked to stay on the sidelines. Brett became extremely anxious and worried about what was about to take place. We were able to get him out on the field a few times, but he just jogged way behind everyone else and never even attempted to get near the ball. No more smiles, no more excitement. He had been so happy just a few minutes earlier, and it broke my heart to see this transformation. The good news is that he tried something new, and although he got stuck in his anxiety at the end, he still did it. Even though he was scared he went out on that field and attempting to do something that was way out of his comfort zone. And since this was only the first day of soccer, I'm hoping that each time he will get a little more comfortable, a little more confident, and maybe I'll even get to see that beautiful smile out on the field too!
