soccer

This fall Joshua played in a pre-K soccer league sponsored by the Holladay Lions Recreation Center.  What a total blast!  The teams were made up of a bunch of three and four year olds, and it was anyone's guess as to how it would go, but it actually turned out to be just great!  The game at this stage of life very much resembles a large swarm of bees, except that you have twenty little legs and feet kicking at the soccer ball at the exact same time as they work their way down the field.  The great thing was that every little kid got to have playing time, the coaches got to run right along side the kids during the game and give them instructions on how to play, and everyone just had a good time!

It was really good for Josh to get out there and experience what it was like to participate in an organized sport.  He really enjoyed it and looked forward to the Saturday morning and Monday evening games.  We signed Janie up to play too, but when it came right down to it, she absolutely did not want to go on the field and play!  Fortunately, Rowan wanted to play soccer on the team with Josh and it couldn't have worked out better... two little cousins out there playing their hearts out at times, and at other times, getting caught up right in the middle of the game with a flock of birds or a jet stream floating across the big blue sky.  Josh scored lots of points during the season... some for our team and some for the other team, but hey!... everyone cheered just the same.

There are two main things that stand out to me as the best and most important parts of this soccer season.  The first was to see Joshua's good sportsmanship.  He really caught the vision that "this was just a game."  He never felt frustrated if his team lost.  He never got ruffled or upset when someone kicked him in the shin or plowed into him, knocking him over.  He would always high-five the kid who just scored a point.  And he always watched out for others.  Josh even stopped playing in the middle of a game to go back and help the smallest kid on his team who had been knocked over by the little swarm, and was still laying on the grass, even though the other players continued to kick at and chase the soccer ball down the field.  At first I wondered why Josh had stopped playing and why he was running the other way, but then all eyes were on Joshua as he leaned over to give little Dennis a hand to help him up.  Everyone cheered... not for the soccer game, but for that act of kindness.  My heart was so happy and proud of our little boy.  

The second thing about the season that is a "stand out" in my mind was our sweet Jane.  I have never seen a sister cheer for a brother as Janie cheered for Josh!  She was at every game, right there on the sidelines, engrossed in every minute of the game, and cheering as if Josh were playing for the World Cup.  I had just as much fun watching Jane cheer for Josh as I did watching Josh play.  It was just so cute and made such a sweet impression on me and also on the others sitting close by.

It is fun to give our children opportunities to see what they might enjoy and what their talents may be in this life.  I'm not sure if Josh will continue to love playing soccer and I'm not sure if Jane will always just want to watch and cheer, but this soccer season was a fun experience for our entire family and I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to participate all together.