When I signed Michael up for Spring soccer, I did this crazy thing where I checked the box that said I would be willing to coach. I used the term willing loosely. When they contacted me and assigned me a team, I had a momentary panic. Brian said I should call them and tell them that I couldn't do it, and I was sorely tempted, but I knew they were struggling to find coaches. I looked up lots of things about coaching preschoolers online, and everyone said that you don't have to know anything about soccer (which at the time I didn't) to coach. You just have to love kids and know how to work with them and make things fun. I could handle that.
So, I wrote an email to Ben soliciting advice, feeling a little silly undertaking coaching soccer when I knew nothing. He sent me some great resources and the season began. I really enjoyed it, and Michael had a lot of fun too.
They had the coaches ref for this age, which didn't make sense until we had our first game. They needed the coaches out there on the field to keep reminding the players about what they were supposed to do. It was a little like semi-organized chaos, especially when it came to our girls. A lot of the time, they'd be standing there on the field, staring at the sky or playing with the grass. And I would have to remind them to go after the ball. Michael was really great at jumping back to defense and protecting the net. Our rec league doesn't have goalies for this age group.
Before our last game, we had a pizza party, and then after the game, I passed out medals and a little soccer ball key-chain that I bought for them. (When I played city-league basketball in elementary school, my dad was my coach, and he always had a pizza party and a little prize for all of us after the season was over, and I loved that, so I decided to do it with my team). I was a little overwhelmed by all the parents surrounding us and taking pictures. What an honor to coach their sweet children!
And Michael got to have Eva on his team.
Michael did amazing, and we've already got him signed up for fall soccer, but I think he'll do better with someone else coaching him. We tend to class a little too much--we both have a stubborn, independent side that isn't always compatible. We had a blast together though, most of the time. He's such a good, enthusiastic athlete, and I can't wait to see what he does with it.
