Soccer has started

I'm not sure why I jump into the responsibility of coaching the boys soccer teams. I only played 2 years and I was 9 and 10 years old. I guess that makes me an expert. :) It is a ton of fun to see the boys interact with their friends, learn the game and just have a ton of fun. Jonathan is in his 3 year playing and Benjamin in his 2nd. The blessing is that Benjamin's league doesn't have practice so I can manage coaching his team and Jonathan's. I really enjoy being around the boys and making them laugh.

I guess there are two reasons to keep coaching these teams. 1. I'm around the boys when I normally wouldn't be. It gives me more connect time and time to work with their character, their work ethic and how they deal with loss. 2. I love the community of parents in soccer. Jonathan's team is mostly returning players which means we have gotten to know the parents fairly well. They are great people, encouraging, and loving towards me and the kids. I have coached soccer and basketball, basketball being a love of mine. Basketball on the other hand doesn't foster a good community of parents and kids. It is indoors, no food and drink allowed, and noisy. But there is something about soccer. Saturday mornings, the fall, warm weather (mostly), oranges, snacks, drinks and playing at the playset afterward all provide a cool environment for connecting with each other.

We had our first set of games this past weekend. Jonathan's team had a double header and they won 6-0 and 3-1. Benjamin's team, unfortunately, lost 2-3. His team is pretty funny. You can probably envision the blob of kids in one circle kicking the ball with no order or plan. Jonathan's team is growing and getting positions, centering the ball and breakaways.

I'm looking forward to more connections with the parents and kids and even more so the end of year party that we will hopefully host in good weather.