After spending all summer playing soccer with kids who WANT to be at practice, who are excited to improve, who are driven and competitive and focused, it has been a hard adjustment back to a rec team. The kids are great, even the ones who aren't particularly athletic. It's just that not all of them really want to be there, to improve their game. Or want to play soccer at all. He is so frustrated when he comes home from practices, now that he's had a taste of more advanced play.
And the games. Sigh. We just try to be really patient and supportive. To give him the tools to motivate himself, to be a good sport even when he is frustrated, and to be a good teammate.
It's going to be a long season.
In last weekends game, he rocked in goal the first half. He made some great saves and was reading the game really well; I can see that the coaching he got over the summer has paid off. A couple goals went in, but sometimes that just can't be helped.
In the second half he got to play on the field; the coach put him in as a forward (which is his preferred position). He had a few chances to score, but with only a couple of the kids actually putting forth significant effort, things weren't looking particularly good for our hero(s).
At one point, I called him over to the sideline and told him that if he scored a goal, his dad would give him $5. A few minutes later, he finally got one in the back of the net.
Bribery is a wonderful motivator.
This is going to be a long season, but we are doing our best to see the silver lining in each game. He's decided to stick it out with this team for the season, and to do his best to improve enough in the off season to own it at try-outs next spring.
Lord help us. I might need to stock up on vodka.
No comments:
Post a Comment