GGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
I've started Abbie on the long road toward a lifetime of physical activity, collegiate scholarships, and helping me vicariously live my dreams. I signed her up for soccer.
About a week ago, I found a note stuck in our door. It advertised the sign-up dates for a fall soccer league. The soccer fields are about a mile from our house, and we can hear the commotion on Saturday mornings. I've wanted to enter Abbie in the local soccer league ever since we moved into our home, but I didn't know who to talk to or how old she had to be. The note told me where to go to register my children ages 4 and up. Perfect.
I played soccer when I was in elementary school. I remember enjoying it despite losing almost every game. I think I played for about three years, and my sole shining moment came when I scored a goal from about midfield after the opposing goalie apparently fell asleep. I wanted Abbie to share in these good times. When I asked if she wanted to play soccer, she enthusiastically responded, "I love soccer," so I cleared time to take her to the registration.
I drove Abbie to the local elementary school at the appointed time. There I found a small group of people ready to register my child for soccer, and to run her through a series of exercises to determine her skill level. They used an actual stopwatch to time her through these exercises because apparently "She's 4-years-old" isn't an acceptable answer on the registration sheet.
They had two cones about ten yards apart, and they timed her running down, and then down and back. I had to run with her to get her to move.
Next they had her dribble a soccer ball between the cones. I wound up kicking the soccer ball alongside her while she ran in mostly random directions.
The next station was a weave drill with a half-dozen cones spaced out over ten yards. The idea was to dribble while weaving in and out of these cones. The man with the stopwatch assured me he had to time her and write down something even though she had a hard enough time moving in a straight line with the soccer ball.
The final station was a goal-scoring station, where she had to kick the ball into the net from ten yards out. After her first try, it was six yards out. Then two yards out. Then about a half-yard out. She'll be lethal as long as the opposing goalie is distracted by a flock of butterflies.
We turned in our forms, picked up some league information, and headed home. I was a little surprised when I discovered this league is run by a local church that we don't belong to. Only after I picked up the league information did I see mention of this church affiliation. That would imply there's not a strong connection between the league and the church, or possibly that this church is very sneaky about their evangelicism. I don't mind a loose connection, but if Abbie comes home talking about how we need to join this church we may need a talk.
Abbie seems to enjoy soccer, although she has a lot of trouble with the "no hands" rule, and the general concept that she's supposed to move the ball toward the opposing goal. She'll be in a co-ed ages 4-5 division, so I imagine she'll be on about the same level as everyone else. As long as she has fun and maybe learns a rule or two, I'll consider this a success. I'd like to see her score a goal too, but I'm anticipating a lot of 0-0 games.
About a week ago, I found a note stuck in our door. It advertised the sign-up dates for a fall soccer league. The soccer fields are about a mile from our house, and we can hear the commotion on Saturday mornings. I've wanted to enter Abbie in the local soccer league ever since we moved into our home, but I didn't know who to talk to or how old she had to be. The note told me where to go to register my children ages 4 and up. Perfect.
I played soccer when I was in elementary school. I remember enjoying it despite losing almost every game. I think I played for about three years, and my sole shining moment came when I scored a goal from about midfield after the opposing goalie apparently fell asleep. I wanted Abbie to share in these good times. When I asked if she wanted to play soccer, she enthusiastically responded, "I love soccer," so I cleared time to take her to the registration.
I drove Abbie to the local elementary school at the appointed time. There I found a small group of people ready to register my child for soccer, and to run her through a series of exercises to determine her skill level. They used an actual stopwatch to time her through these exercises because apparently "She's 4-years-old" isn't an acceptable answer on the registration sheet.
They had two cones about ten yards apart, and they timed her running down, and then down and back. I had to run with her to get her to move.
Next they had her dribble a soccer ball between the cones. I wound up kicking the soccer ball alongside her while she ran in mostly random directions.
The next station was a weave drill with a half-dozen cones spaced out over ten yards. The idea was to dribble while weaving in and out of these cones. The man with the stopwatch assured me he had to time her and write down something even though she had a hard enough time moving in a straight line with the soccer ball.
The final station was a goal-scoring station, where she had to kick the ball into the net from ten yards out. After her first try, it was six yards out. Then two yards out. Then about a half-yard out. She'll be lethal as long as the opposing goalie is distracted by a flock of butterflies.
We turned in our forms, picked up some league information, and headed home. I was a little surprised when I discovered this league is run by a local church that we don't belong to. Only after I picked up the league information did I see mention of this church affiliation. That would imply there's not a strong connection between the league and the church, or possibly that this church is very sneaky about their evangelicism. I don't mind a loose connection, but if Abbie comes home talking about how we need to join this church we may need a talk.
Abbie seems to enjoy soccer, although she has a lot of trouble with the "no hands" rule, and the general concept that she's supposed to move the ball toward the opposing goal. She'll be in a co-ed ages 4-5 division, so I imagine she'll be on about the same level as everyone else. As long as she has fun and maybe learns a rule or two, I'll consider this a success. I'd like to see her score a goal too, but I'm anticipating a lot of 0-0 games.
posted by Matt at
11:15 PM
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