Today was Kaia's second soccer lesson, and my first time watching. Kaia has been wanting to play soccer for at least the last year and a half, and woke up eagerly this morning. "Soccer today!" she yelled on the way to school.
On the field, she is hesitant. She trips over the ball, and kicks it in arbitrary directions. I flash back to my own school experiences with sports.
I was horrible. I mean I sucked. People groaned when I, the last person to be picked, was forced onto their team. And I dreaded PE with a passion. I hated anything to do with team sports.
Watching Kaia trail behind during Red Light Green Light Dribbling, I cringed. Her back was to me, but I imagined her face, watching the other kids being able to dribble, if inexpertly, faster than she could.
before soccer today, I am helping her change into her shorts and shin guards.
"you excited about soccer today?"
"yeah!! I LOVE soccer! I want to play until I'm a teenager!"
She turns around, after the Red Light game is over. Grinning at me, she yells "hi mom!" She has to be reminded to pay attention to the next task, passing. She doesn't do well in this either. I feel badly for her, not because I need her to exceed, but because I want her to feel good about how she's doing. I worry she's losing self esteem. But again, she looks over at me, while chasing the ball she has missed, and grins again. and I realize. she is having fun. I doesn't matter to her that she is in back, or the slowest one. She's playing soccer!
The three coaches decide to divide the kids up to play a game. The two best kids on the team are chosen as temporary captains and told to pick their teams, each to choose three other kids. I bite my lip. What will she do if neither of them want her on their team?
One of the kids yells, right off, "Kaia and Chance on my team! oh, and Devon."
I smile, and relax. Whew! Crisis averted! Kaia's reaction? "okay" and she skips around the kid, then away from him, skipping for skipping's sake, and without a doubt that she was wanted.
After class, once again, I ask her. "did you have fun? Do you like playing still?"
"Yes yes yes!! I love it!"
2 comments:
LOVE these shots! She looks like a natural to me! Get her out with a ball practicing! I can get her a ball, if you like.
Hi there I'm with you on this one hated PE at school. The good thing about soccer is that you practice it any where as you don't need any special stuff. Here in the UK you can buy balls in most shops and most kids spend hours kicking them about. Hope Kaia enjoys playing for many years to come. All the best Shirley
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