Conner’s soccer field for his game this morning was very wet. It’s been raining here every night for several days, and sometimes during the day, too. It wasn’t raining this morning, but it was wet. Wet and foggy and humid and… wet. Wet, wet, wet.
You can imagine running around a slick, grassy field trying to make contact with a slick, wet ball. “Slick as snot,” as my dad used to say. That saying always grossed me out. (“Hi, dad!)
Game Injuries
Three kids got hurt today: One came back in the game; one was out; and one left in an ambulance. An ambulance. Something made sharp contact with the kid’s head — a knee? a foot? — and he was down, writhing and flailing in obvious pain. No blood, and he managed to walk off the field. But he has at least a concussion, if not worse. They were careful to support his neck, and the way he was holding his ear made me wonder if he could have burst his eardrum? To see his face… These are still kids, for pete’s sake. At least in my book. I found myself wanting the game to just end before someone else got hurt.
Lifestyle Soccer vs. Rec League
Soccer’s a serious business in Ohio, I tell you what. Many kids play as soon as they walk and end up joining traveling teams and competing virtually year-round. “Lifestyle soccer,” I call it. It takes over your time and your pocketbook, hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth.
Conner’s on a rec team with kids that want to play, “just for fun.” No tryouts and minimal expense: just a $75 registration fee. (Unless you’re late, then it’s $100.) (Not that I would know! *ahem*)
Of course, this isn’t including the additional cost of shoes and socks and shin guards. But all in all, quite affordable as far as sports go.
But this “fun” has been a lot more serious and impressive than I was anticipating. These kids can play! And it’s not just the guys, no sirree. These young women hold their own quite well. In many cases, even better. And Conner is finally learning to play some honest-to-goodness soccer. If these are the kids playing, “just for fun”? I wonder about the kids who’ve been playing together since before they could read!
You Win Some, You Lose Some.
Conner’s team lost, by the way. Only their second loss(?) of the season. Conner noted that their last loss was on a wet field, too. His team seemed tired this morning, too. Definitely not at their peak.
For his part, Conner woke up (grumpily) in time to play a pretty good game – He’s gotten better and better at every game, actually. He plays defense, and he’s starting to look like a scrapper. On the way home he spontaneously said, “I love soccer.” And I couldn’t resist.
“Aren’t you glad I made you play?”
He smiled begrudgingly but said, “I wish you would stop saying that.”
“Oh, come on. That’s only the second time I’ve said that.”
“Third.”
“Whatever.”
He could be right. My forgetting is almost as likely as his exaggerating.
Even though he kept telling everyone that he loved soccer, he balked when I signed him up for it.
“I just want to play tennis.”
Well, the middle school doesn’t have tennis here, bucko, so you’re taking what you can get.
The Value of Team Sports
This is the kid who’s always had to be prodded a bit; he’s not one to put himself out there so much, to take risks and challenge himself without encouragement. It’s just not his makeup. I know, because his little sister is the exact opposite.
And team sports are important, I really believe that. Just these last few weeks Conner has gained more confidence in his abilities: the kid may not have the most aggressive, competitive spirit (Thank God), but he is athletically coordinated and perfectly capable of applying himself. Soccer helps kids learn to play fair, pay attention, and to work with each other for the good of the team.
As a defensive player, Conner will rarely have the opportunity to score a goal himself. But just this morning he took the ball down the field and passed it to the guy who did score. Conner was so proud of himself, and rightfully so. One person does not a team make.
Next year Conner will go to high school, a very large high school where soccer is a serious business and kids are competing just to try to make the team. Many of these kids, of course, have been playing on serious, traveling teams for years. I’m sure more than a few will earn college scholarships by the time they graduate.
I don’t know if Conner will have any interest in trying out for the team next year (not to mention the gumption). The high school also has tennis, which he does enjoy much more — and he’s really pretty good at it, too. I’ll be quite fine if tennis is the sport he decides to focus on (hello, fewer injuries!) and this ends up being his last official soccer hurrah. After all, it’s not the sport itself that is so important: rather, it’s what you learn from it. At the very least, Conner will be able to join in on an informal, pick-up game of soccer until he’s an old man. That alone is worth a lot.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, I'm so impressed someone read this to the end and seemed to get what I was trying to say. Thanks, Elise.
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Yes it is – great post too , thank you for writing it
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