We enrolled Esther in soccer this year. She is so shy and introverted in new situations that getting her to participate in new group activities is usually pretty difficult, especially if she feels pressure to "perform." We really want her to learn get comfortable participating in group settings and soccer is a great introduction. We had a few rough moments at the first practice, but she warmed up and actually participated towards the end. The second practice she participated in everything the coach wanted her to do. Her coach is extremely patient with her and very encouraging, which has helped. Her first game was this past Saturday. Once again, it started off kind of rough, we didn't know if she was actually going to go out on the field and play. She started throwing a little fit and told us she did not want to play but we told her she didn't have a choice. She would not even interact with her team, she just stared at the ground. When the coach put her in we thought she might just stand on the field and not move, but she proved us wrong. She took off running as soon as they kicked the ball to start. She doesn't aggressively pursue the ball, but she does kick it (sometimes) when it is near her. She got to do a kick-off, a corner kick, and she actually made a good defensive stop and kept the other team from scoring once. Her coach was awesome with her and got her involved and having fun. He got down on her level and talked to her before the game when she was struggling and was encouraging her. After the game he pulled her aside and told her how proud he was of her playing and how well she did. It really means a lot to have a coach who really cares about the kids.
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Watching a bunch of 5 year olds play soccer is quite entertaining. They play 3 on 3 with lots of substitutions, and both coaches on the field. They don't keep score (though the parents do) and they don't have too many rules to follow. It is pretty much mass pandemonium. It seems there are one or two players on each team that actually know what they are doing. The rest just run around kicking (sometimes in the wrong goal).
After the game Esther told us that she liked playing a lot better than sitting on the side! She did a good job of playing and we are proud of her.
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| Kick-off |
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| Corner kick |
