CAL'S FIRST SOCCER GAME

So, it happened. I'm not sure when. But my baby grew up. Cal had his first official "team" soccer game this weekend. We found a league for 3 & 4 year olds that is a great "starter" league - all players play an equal amount of time, the only "practices" are 30 minutes before each game on Sunday afternoon - a very laid back time slot. We bought athletic shorts, shinguards, tall socks and new shoes. It was both sweet and sad. Sweet because all the players were 3 & 4 yrs old and not real good at soccer but loved running around on the field and pretending to be. Sad because he's now officially a "big boy" doing big boy stuff. I'm trying not to be TOO sad about it b/c they really didn't act very much like big boys. The majority of them cried at some point in the game (including Cal but only once and just for a few seconds out of frustration and not pain - which is good, I guess?) and several of them really didn't want to leave their parents - Cal had no problem with that part. Only 2 of the 8 or so players on our team showed any real skills as a player - and one of them was at least a foot taller than all the others and HAD to be at least 4 and a half - he scored 5 of the 6 goals! I'm certain this is his 2nd season. The other was Cal's best friend Brady from his class at school and he scored the other goal. So....already we have some catching up to do. :0)

Cal did OK, mostly paid attention, mostly did what his coaches said, and seemed interested. It was sunny and about 60 but SUPER windy and felt really cold as a result. Cal complained that he was too cold the last 10 minutes of the game and sat out most of that time. His main problem was that he lagged behind the crowd and didn't really get much time with the ball. He told me later that the other boys were "too fast" for him and he couldn't keep up (which wasn't really true - he kept up pretty well, even when they were running). He then said that the other boys were mean and didn't ask him if he wanted the ball or if they could take it from him. Which made me realize how ridiculous it is to go from a constant barrage of "Cal, no hitting! Cal, don't steal toys from your brother! Cal, please ask before you take something from somone else" to "Cal, get in there! Steal the ball! Take it away! Shove those kids out of the way!" Anyone see a conflict here? So in some ways I feel a huge victory in raising such a polite, well-mannered, sweet boy who does what he has been taught by mom and dad. On the other hand, I'm wondering how we are going to balance those manners with the heart and soul of a champion who will earn a full college scholarship in some yet-t0-be-determined sport??? Your feedback is welcome here. For now, I'm just glad he enjoys it and didn't cling to his daddy the whole game. He's #45 in the dark blue jerseys in these photos and, yes, that's dad in a red jersey being one of the coaches - enjoy!