Brandi has two games left for the rec center soccer league. One on Thursday, a makeup game for one that was rained out, and one next week. Because she has enjoyed soccer and playing she wanted to continue after these last two games. I had no idea where she would be able to do that. I asked her coaches and they didn't know. So I asked David, figuring he might be able to at least point me in the right direction.
Apparently if you want to play soccer in the fall, you have to try out in the spring. I would say, "Who knew?" right here, but there are plenty of people that knew. And they tried out. In the spring. When you are supposed to try out. As a soccer mom I am really clueless about all this stuff.
But Dave was nice enough to point me in the right direction anyway with a soccer club that is close to our house. And then he even gave me the name of someone to call. And this someone called the coach of the soccer club and asked her if Brandi could still try out. The coach said yes.
So this evening Brandi and I headed over to the team's practice. We knew going in that she might not do more than have a really good practice with this team and then spend the winter practicing and then try out again in the spring, you know, when you are supposed to.
We met Noelle, chatted a bit and she put Brandi right to work. I think Brandi worked harder and more in that hour and a half than she has all summer with the rec league. Including games. After an hour of drills, the girls divided into two teams and played a game. I could tell Brandi was getting tired. But she kept at it.
Noelle asked if Brandi could come back because she has potential. I think potential is good. Right?
Driving home, Brandi told me that she wasn't sure she liked it. I think it is because she worked so hard. She never got subbed out during the game, she doesn't know any of the girls, the coaches worked her hard, she is not used to that. We talked about how the coaches needed to see how she plays in all the positions and the only way to do that was to play her in all the positions.
Their next practice is Thursday at 5. Same day and time as her makeup game. Noelle and I agreed that her first obligation is to her current team so she will go to Saturday's practice.
We may be coming late to the game this time, but I think we are on our way to turning me into a soccer mom.
Indeed.
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4 comments:
Hmmmm...I guess I'm a sports enthusiast mom! Chris made the accelerated baseball team and refuses to give up soccer. We are literally going to one game and changing clothes in the car on the way to the next! I don't mind. He's worth all the effort and any little bit of trouble. I thought soccer was expensive.....shew. Baseball is expensive. :s Good luck to Brandi though....:)
Brandi:
Give it a go. Whenever you step into a "higher level of play" everythings seems harder, because, well, it is. But harder becomes easier and easier the more you're around it, the more you play with it, the more you're around players who play a little faster, run a little harder. And BOOM, a few weeks or a month or a year later, you're looking at a new girl doing what your doing right now, and you'll say to yourself, "Self, I remember when I thought this was hard. I remember when I thought I didn't have any friends here. I remember when I figured the coaches were tough cookies. But now, hey, I love the fast play, I love my new friends, and my coaches are just a bunch of warm fuzzy characters."
So give it shot. A full year maybe even. Trust me. I've been around the block with THOUSANDS OF SOCCER PLAYERS. It will get easier, not because the game changed, but because you will change. You'll get stronger, faster, more skillful. And the friends will start falling from tree branches. Real. Great. Friends. The kind of friends that you can share secrets with, or go to the movies with. The kind of friends your mom will love becuase they are just great kids. These kinds of teams are that way. They attract the kind of kids you want to be friends with forever. So don't give up on the friend thing, before you find out how wonderful and dear they may become to you.
Good luck. The soccer GURU is cheering for you.
David,
Brandi says thanks for the note.
When she got up this morning she was not feeling well. She hit her nose on a bar on the slide Thursday. This morning it was still quite painful and she felt sick to her stomach and said she never wanted to play soccer. I had printed out your comment and put it in her soccer bag. I had her read it. She felt better about soccer and went and had a good day. Until a ball hit her in the nose!
I agree with David. Brandi, go for it! You can always give it up later. Megan played soccer for two years before switching to lacrosse. Although she like lacrosse much more than soccer, those two years helped teach her skills that she has used in lacrosse. It's not wasted time. :)
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