I am a soccer mom. With that title comes many responsibilities. It is my job to make sure each kid gets to their respective practice on time. Or relatively close, in my case! I also need to make sure they have all their gear on correctly, have a ball, and something to drink.
Our games in the fall are on Sunday mornings. I need to make sure they each get to their games, which is not always easy since the times of Little Dude's games vary week to week. I again need to make sure they are appropriately dressed and have something to drink. I also need to pay attention to who has snack. Remembering such things is about as easy for me as getting somewhere on time. But I still manage to get it done. It doesn't matter that my trip to the grocery store for said snack was the night before the game. And by night before I mean well after the kids went to bed.
So far each kid has only had 2 games apiece and only a few practices. Positions are something new for Little Dude this year. Up until today, his coach would tell him to play defense and he would wander around clueless. The husband and I had to take over the job of coach for a few nights to work with him and today it finally clicked! Little Dude was getting right in there, helping his team mates and kicking the ball. In the right direction I might add!
Little Dude is on the left
getting ready to go after the ball
At the end of almost every season he doesn't want to play anymore. His feet hurt. He doesn't like running. He hates having me wake him up (me, too!). Come time for sign-ups, he's already asking what color we think he will be for the season.
As much as Little Dude can complain (he may or may not get that from moi), GG is the complete opposite. She loves soccer! She has an awesome coach this year and when he lights the fire under her ass, she kicks ass! She is also on the team that wears bandannas each game. That's pretty cool. Or at least her and I think it is!
GG is on the left
with pink shorts & a black bandanna
She has talked in the past of playing soccer in high school and maybe someday being the next Mia Hamm. She definitely has the potential to be great with this sport, especially if she puts her mind to it and does the work. As awesome as I think this would be
because she could pay for us when we're old, we have hit a road block.
The fall season ends in the beginning of November, right before GG turns 9. When we sign her up to play in the Spring, she will be bumped up to the next age bracket. I am definitely not comfortable with this bracket, and neither is the husband.
She has been playing soccer for a few years so she has obviously had to move up to new age groups. For example, she started playing with 5/6, then she moved to 7/8. Because of when her birthday falls, she is always one of the older kids. I do get worried that my 8, almost 9 year old is playing with newly 7 year olds, but it's really not a huge issue. This next age bracket, should she continue, is 9-13.
Yes, I said 9-13. There is a huge difference between a 9 year old girl and a 13 year old girl. The size, the weight, and the aggressiveness. But not only this, the teams are still mixed. She could potentially play on the same team with 13 year old boys. My fear is that GG will be intimidated by the bigger kids, become withdrawn, and end up hating the sport. But at the same time, she could see how the older kids play and it could really light the fire under her ass.
We still have quite a few months to figure out what we're going to do. Maybe I can talk to her current coach with the hopes that he is also moving up with his son. Maybe with a little brown nosing, GG can get on his special pick list! But that's not a guarantee. Not many things in life are.
If you were in this situation, what would you do?
All advice and comments, good, bad, and ugly, are welcome.
Until next time....
