This year's Soccer Season was 6 weeks long in May and June. This is the 3rd year we've participated. When the boys first started playing soccer 3 seasons ago, they didn't know anything about playing and I didn't know anything about soccer. That first year, Ammon and the twins played, Josh coached, and I was the chairperson in charge of organizing the entire thing. And we learned a lot that year: Josh doesn't like coaching toddlers and I don't like being in charge of something that I know nothing about. So, the second year, Josh and I didn't do a single thing to volunteer and instead we just enjoyed the view from the sidelines watching Ammon and the twins play. This year, everything was different: Ammon didn't play because he was already signed up for Golf, Jonah and Micah were in the U8 league for the first time, Kanyon was old enough to play for the first time, and I sort of signed up to coach. I knew that Kanyon would require extra attention, so I told the organizer that I could "help" coach; as in: "I could 'help' the coach". Of course, you know what that means...I was "THE" coach for his team. I didn't think it would be a big deal, I thought it would be just about telling 4 & 5 year olds to "RUN!" and "KICK!", which it was, but it turned out to be so much more than that... Let's just say I came home crying at least twice, and I had no idea what I was in for when I gold the organizer that I could "help". I'm sure you don't want all the details, but at the end of the season when the organizer asked me if I wanted to coach again next year, I wised up and said "I don't think so".
I missed half of Jonah and Micah's games because they were at the same time that I was coaching my team on a different field, but whenever I did watch them, I felt like their coach on the sidelines (sort of like a backseat driver). I was constantly yelling at them to "RUN!" and "KICK!" and I got all into it, which is so not like me when watching sports, mostly because I don't care about sports. But despite my yelling, the boys did great. The first several games, they both scored and were fantastic players. By the end of the season, the teams were more competitive and the playing became harder and more intense. And the ONE time that I took my video camera toward the end of the season to record them playing, they didn't score a single goal (not that they didn't try their hardest to). Jonah and Micah are both good players because they can both run and kick, and they like to win! It was fun to watch them!
Kanyon did well for his first year of playing. His team consisted of 2 older and fast 6-year-olds, and 4 young and inexperienced players. During his first game, he tripped and fell and was so upset that he didn't go back in the rest of that game and during the next week at home, he kept saying "I don't want to go back to soccer". But, after a week, I made him go back, and he got over it, and he became a great player! He really liked playing and he wasn't afraid to go against the older kids to get the ball. He was happy to be a part of the team! And I loved watching his little legs go!
At the last game of the season, each of the players received a little soccer trophy, and they all loved it! My 3 boys all had a positive experience with soccer this year, despite playing in a lot of cold and rainy and windy weather! And most nights, I dreaded going so I prayed for lightning so that our games would be cancelled (which of course never happened). And most nights, I came home feeling happier because it was very rewarding to me, as their mother, to watch them play a sport that they enjoyed and were good at and had so much fun in!
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