Last night I watched 4- and 5-yr olds play soccer. My dad had suggested that it would probably be like watching the tail of a kite. Aside from the whining ("I'm too hot"), the bored goalie sticking his head through the net and laying down on the ground once in a while, kids taking their own timeouts to run to the side of the field to get a drink of water or say hi to mom, some tears (only from my nephew), and a lot of yelling "you're going the wrong way!", I was actually quite impressed with their skills. They were kicking, dribbling, running, scoring, knocking each other over and getting right back up...not bad. But my nephew had a rough game (note that the game was about 15-minutes long). After playing goalie during last week's game, my nephew had apparently forgotten that when you're not the goalie, you can't use your hands. So early in the game, he decided to pick up the ball while he was playing defense. The ref blew the whistle and the coach (his dad, my brother-in-law) reminded him that he can't use his hands...the tears started flowing and his game was pretty much over. He came to the sideline and informed me and his uncle that he didn't want to play soccer anymore. I then found out just how difficult it is to give a pep talk to a sensitive 4-yr old. He eventually went back out on the field, but mostly just to lean against the goal post for the remainder of the game. A few teammates even tried to cheer him up, but he wasn't having any of it. After the game, I asked him what it was going to take to get him to play soccer without crying (he's 2 for 2 now)- his pouty response was simply "I want to play goalie". I then tried to explain that him and his teammates all need to play different positions, and that didn't go over so well. He cheered up a bit when he got refueled with his post-game snacks (Teddy Grahams and Gatorade), so before I left, I figured I'd give it another shot and we had the following conversation:
Me: So are you going to be playing soccer again next week?
Him: I don't know.
Me: You really don't want to play?
Him (in a very sassy voice): I said 'I don't know'...but I didn't say 'no'.
Me: Alright then, I best be going now. How about we have this conversation again in 14 yrs or so?
Kids these days.
2 comments:
So when we ride sometime we can discuss our 4-5yo nephews. Just be glad you arent playing Candyland with yours. IF you draw "Queen Frostine"..watch out. The board game goes upside down and all @#$ breaks loose. Losing isnt his forte.He is now playing tennis like a mad-boy. Lets hope that his dad (my bro, who would rather talk to spectators than smash an overhead!) doesnt show him tapes of John McEnroe!
Julia
I have to apologize on behalf of this blog author. It seems she missed out on some of the major facts of this story, leaving her loyal readers with only half the story.
Fact 1: This juggernaut of a team is lead by one of the most handsome and charismatic coaches Sarah has ever laid her eyes on(Yes I know it was mentioned but where was the fanfare, the bold lettering, etc...?)
Fact 2: The Whitecaps(clever team name) are undefeated!!! Yes its true. This her nephews team has outscored its opponents 11-1 in three games!
Fact 3: Jaxson instead of watching his older brother and his coaching legend father, played hard to get with all the toddler chicks.
Fact 4: The soccer Mom's could not hold back their excitement and enthusiasm for their favorite coach. I don't remember the exact quote Sarah told me she heard but it went something like this:
Hot Soccer Mom1: "I have never seen such a good looking, talented, soccer coaching genius!"
Hot Soccer Mom2: "Its like watching a mixture of Bill Belicheck, Phil Jackson, Vice Lombardi, Bill Walsh, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Dean Smith all rolled into one beautiful coaching mind!"
Hot soccer Mom3: "Yeah but with the looks of Brad Pitt"
Now hopefully you will all have a clearer picture of what happened that evening.
Signed,
The Coaching Legend with looks like Brad Pitt
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