Soccer

Eli has wrapped up his first (and maybe only) soccer season.  Before starting, I don't think he really had much background knowledge about the sport or exposure to it, but I wanted to sign him up to give him the opportunity to try it out and even more so for some social interaction with other kids.  Prior to the first practice, I really did not know what to expect from this experience of preschool soccer. 

When I turned in our registration form, we also picked up a jersey, which Eli seemed very excited about.  Yet, another milestone for him, getting old enough to be involved in more activities. 

Upon arrival at the first soccer practice, the first thing on the agenda was taking individual pictures and then a team picture.  I was quite surprised he willingly and even naturally posed for his picture with a soccer ball in hand.  They used smaller, kid-sized balls and nets. 

There were about 14 preschoolers in total between the 2 teams and only 1 coach since no other parents volunteered.  There was quite a variety of ability and interest levels in this group of preschoolers.   

I was very impressed with the coach's ability to instruct such young kids on the fundamentals of the game all the while keeping an encouraging attitude with an unlimited amount of patience.  He began by going over the basic rules:  No using hands along with kicking using the inside of the foot rather than the toes.  The first practice consisted of various skills and drills, while the other 5 sessions were broken into 2 parts:  The first 30 minutes involved practice and working on more skills and dribbling the ball with their feet and then the second half involved an actual game. 

Eli really seemed to enjoy the first half of each session.  He readily joined in with kicking the ball around, practicing kicking it into the goal and back and forth to a teammate.  It was also good exercise with the nonstop movement.  

 

While watching the coach give instructions before they started their first game, so many of them appeared to be more interested in what was going on everywhere else around the field rather than his direction.  I thought to myself there is no way they are going to know what to do when they start playing.  Somehow, they all knew what to do and which direction their team was supposed to go to try to make a goal, although Eli had no interest in participating.  I don't think the idea of kids running together all in a huddle chasing after the ball really appealed to him.  He stood with his feet planted firmly in the middle of the field.  After all, it was my idea to sign him up; he didn't really know what he was getting into and even with some encouragement, he still had no desire to play the game and ended up as a spectator during each game after that, but we still took him and he still participated in the practice before each game.  

 While the other kids enjoyed the action of the game, Eli was content in his seemingly favorite position:  The sidelines.

Overall, I think it was still a good experience for Eli to attempt something new.  I don't think we will be signing him up for soccer again unless he changes his mind about wanting to participate in the game.  Maybe we will try T-ball in the spring.