The joy of soccer

Hi all.  Sorry I was away for a few days.  It won't happen again.

Sometimes when you get into the club soccer world, and get wrapped up in the games, tournaments, fees, travel, you begin to lose sight of what got you here in the first place.

As I mentioned in the second entry, it was actually my daughter who was the first kid from our family to play.  She has since stopped to dance (her favorite sport/art), but she was the first.

On this rainy day, I'm thinking of her blonde hair up in a big bow, her face a mask of concentration as she steps up to block a shot on defense and play it away.  It was our local rec league, and I think she was 6 when she started.

She was never the best player on her team, but she was always the most determined.  Her coaches loved her for this, and it's a trait that she has carried with her into almost adulthood.

Then I found a video of this smiling blonde boy, 4 years old, just running after the ball in the green grass.  Running and kicking it.  He could have been running to the moon.  Such joy.

It was a terrible quality video.  I forgot to turn the camera off when I laid it down, so there is about 20 minutes of green grass with people talking in the background.  But the 10 seconds before that 20 minutes, that's the boy.  Running, laughing, kicking the ball.

You hear my voice a few times:  "That's it!  Kick it!  You got it!!"  Lots of laughter, lots of joy.

There's an image of another young boy.  He's curly-haired, about 4, not really paying attention.  When the ball comes his way he swings a leg at it, but then goes back to his own reverie.

Blink your eyes, and the happy little blonde boy is now tall and lanky, but fast as the strikers he's defending.  He's not as blonde as he used to be, and he saves his laughing for after the match with some of the boys on his team.  He still loves the game, but now he loves it as a technician, and sometimes as an artist.

The formerly curly-haired boy who swung his foot once in a while is now all business.  His crew cut looks so severe as he stands at the top of his box, and make no mistake.  It's his box.  Not yours.  You may get one by him once in a while, but only if you'v really fooled him.  He's loud now, shouting out commands to his teammates:  "RECOVER!"  "PUSH UP!!"  Some like it, some don't, all the parents do.  His coaches really do.

The girl has moved on, dance has replaced soccer in her life for good.  She still loves to watch her brothers, and of course she thinks she can still beat them.

She smiles when I remind her that she started all of this.

What a joy this game has brought to our family.  What a great sport my children have taught me to love.

What a joy!