Soccer!

That's right, official soccer mom here. I wanted Clara to have experiences other than dance to see if she might be interested in something else, so soccer it is. I've already explained that once she starts kindergarten, she'll have to choose only one extra activity to be in, so I'm interested to see which she chooses or if she decides to try something different. All I know is, I won't be running around like a crazy person all week and weekend to get her to everything. I think having down time with family and dinner together is more important that running everyone ragged and eating on the go. Soccer is interfering with daddy/daughter breakfast, but it's only 8 weeks.

One of the reasons I chose this particular league is because their practice and game is back to back early Saturday morning. I also appreciate that they keep score and have playoffs at the end. I'm not competitive by any means and I could care less how well she does, but Clara seriously needs to work on being a good loser. She is a terrible loser and cries and sulks any time she doesn't win or even when she thinks she may not win. It's embarrassing.

She was pretty clueless on the field, but you can't really blame her. I mean, our home is pretty much a sports-free zone. I bought her a soccer ball two days before her first game just so she'd know what one looks like. Ok, maybe she knew what one looked like, but I at least wanted her foot to have been in contact with one prior to starting day.

She surprised me and was more coordinated than I expected. She did really well. I think she was just really overwhelmed by it all. Running, kicking, coaches, team mates, goals, opposing team, referee.... it's a lot to take in.

I may be getting ahead of myself, but there's a chance she might not get the lesson in losing that I was hoping for. There are two boys on the team that are phenomenal. One had made two goals in the first quarter and the coach was told by the ref that he could only score one more that game. While I understand the reasoning, I felt bad for him. He obviously loves soccer and the boy knew what he was doing. He did make his third goal not too long after and I was afraid he would have to sit out the rest of the game. I was really happy when the coach let him in to play goalie, but you could tell he was itching to get to that ball.

Clara didn't pay too close attention and didn't want in the scuffle for the ball, so she held back for most of the game. She got to play goalie for a little while and she managed to block two goals! I was so proud of her. One did get past her though and she broke down crying immediately. Everyone was encouraging her, telling her it's ok and good job but she just knew she hadn't done what she was supposed to. It broke my heart to see her so upset but that's what I'm talking about with the whole losing thing. She had to come sit with us for a few minutes to compose herself. After a good cry she got right back in there. I'm so glad she's got some of her dad in her; she's got spunk. Had it been me at 5, I would've been begging to go home and never come back.

At one point, she was running and I didn't see how it happened, but she fell flat on her face. It was a really good fall. She started crying, so the coach helped her up and walked her over to us to calm down. Again, she ran right back in to the game. She's such a trooper.

Her coach was so great. His son is on the team and this is his first experience with being a soccer dad and coach. He was very encouraging and learned all of the kids names quickly. I really like him. Every week they will have a different word that they learn and at the end of the game, the coach chooses one player that he feels exemplified that trait and they receive a medal. The word for week one was team mate. Guess who got the medal?

Ok, so my child isn't getting the lesson in humility that I was hoping for :) I really am proud of her. She is such a fantastic little person, inside and out. One little girl started crying when she didn't get a medal and Clara went over to her, bent down (the girl was about a foot shorter than Clara), put her hand on her arm and told her, "It's ok, you played good, maybe you'll get a medal next time." My sweet girl really does know what it means to be a good team mate.