Seth's Introduction to Soccer

Last Saturday morning, we set out for the local soccer field. We had talked to Seth about playing soccer and he said that he wanted to play. We had kicked the ball around a little bit in our yard and he knew that the object was to kick the ball into the goal. Seth did not like the fact that he had to wear shin guards to play soccer and of course, he would have preferred wearing his Crocs.



The soccer field is actually part of a park complete with slides and swings. When Seth saw that, soccer was out the window. We had to remind him that we were here to play soccer. We had not been there for 20 minutes when Seth looked at me and said,"I am ready to go." I thought he meant that he was ready to play soccer, since the program director was giving history and instruction of the soccer program. No....he was ready to go home.

"There's no crying in soccer!"

So the kids were put into groups and instructed to drills like Red-light, Green-light; Sharks & Minnows, Steal the Bacon, Left Foot Kick, and Right Foot Kick. For Seth, it was like pulling teeth. He loved the idea of being outside, but did NOT like the idea of having to do something he didn't want to do. Of course, he resorted to his coping skills--sucking his thumb?!??!
So we made it through our first soccer practice, and I am proud to report we have now made it through our second. The second one went a lot better, especially now that Rob is Seth's soccer coach. Our team has seven boys and one girl all under the age of 5. The next month and a half will be very interesting. Did I mention one of the reasons the second practice went so well is because of bribery? Yep, it works and I plan to use it for a long time.