Soccer Grrrrrrrl

I love watching my kids grow and develop. Now that they are 9 (!!!!!) they are really finding their way; friendships are more natural, after school activities are of their choice, and their free time is spent doing things THEY love.

It's soft of hard not to be a fan of soccer in our house. Both Flannery and I played in high school (well, I warmed the bench while Flannery got her photo in newspapers . . . ). There are soccer balls in every corner of the yard and soccer posters all over the house. And, luckily, ESPN 3.com broadcasts piles of games.

With all that, we refrained from signing the kids up for soccer teams and classes when they were tiny tots:) However, by the spring of kindergarten they both expressed an interest and we signed them up for their school rec and ed teams. Collin did it for the soccer. Cayla did it for the halftime snack and snazzy pink shirts that most of the kindergarten girls wore to school on soccer practice days.

And, how did it go you ask? Well, it went:) Practices were a disaster - way too many directions/expectations after a long day of school, so we stopped going. In fact, she probably made it to about 3 practices over the course of 3 years. And, games were games. Cayla wandered around the field, sometimes running and occasionally touching the ball - usually kicking it in the right direction. Her rotations as goalie were painful to say the least. She stood frozen like a statue, too shy or hesitant to pick up the ball even when it slowly rolled right up to her. So why did we keep signing her up you ask? The pink shirts and halftime snacks of course. And, so she could be part of a team and interact socially with all the girls in her grade (they were all in gen ed, while she was in a special education classroom for 3 years), some inclusion that the school wasn't really providing. The coaches were understanding and supportive. The other parents were fabulous fans when she touched the ball during a game (the crowd goes wild!!!!!), and she loved the end of season parties.

However, as time went on, she was beginning to lose interest. The other girls were becoming better soccer players; faster runners, more accurate passers. She stopped wanting to go to games. So, we didn't sign her up for soccer last spring. She fussed a bit when spring came and she realized that she wasn't on the team, but not much.

Fast forward to this fall..........

During the first week of school Cayla asked me in one of her rare authoritative voices, "When do my soccer practices start, Mom?". Ugh. I hadn't even considered signing her up. I thought we were done with soccer. Sign-up had closed 2 months ago. But, she wanted nothing to do with my weak attempts to talk her out of it, so I e-mailed the coaches, who assured me there would ALWAYS be a spot for Cayla on the Flamingos soccer team.

And, she has been a beast this season! She runs out of school on practice days and insists that Collin or I pass the ball with her for the 45 minutes before practice begins. She lasts the entire practice, appearing more willing and focused that most of the other girls. She insists that we stay after practice to kick the ball around some more (this would be 6pm on a Friday . . . ). She spends much of her free time kicking the ball around in the backyard with Collin. She tries to sneak her soccer ball to school. She looks forward to games all week! We have got a soccer obsessed girl on our hands and we love it!

Now, don't get me wrong. She still barely touches the ball during games. She's slow - very slow. She's not much of a dribbler. She often whiffs, missing the ball Charlie Brown style when going to kick it. Her reaction time is slow as molasses. But, Flannery and I has noticed that her positioning is spot on. She reads the field quite well. And, oh how sweet it is when she does connect with the ball. What she lacks in quickness and coordination, she makes up for in power! About once a game she boots the ball up the field. It's airborne! (Somewhat rare in 3rd grade girls soccer) The crowd goes wild as it soars down the field. Go Cayla! Our soccer girl has really come into herself and we couldn't be prouder!