Type A Soccer Mom?

Erik LOVES soccer.   He truly walked around in shin guards for more than a week last spring.  His passion for the sport hasn't quieted since then.   He has now played through four soccer sessions.  Being that he has a fall birthday he has been playing on the U5 team still this year.  Since last spring he was really caught onto "goal" of the game and is one of the better (and older) kids in the U5 age group.

I tried to play him up for the indoor season but they didn't have room.  Spring registration was just last week and I think (hope) he will be able to play on a U6 team this spring session (will repeat in the fall again).

Having a kid with a birthday right around the school/sport cut off is tricky!  There are benefits to being older for sure but you also don't want them to be bored.  As you know we chose to adhere to the school guidelines regarding when to put Erik into kindergarten.  He is reading quite well now, knows basic addition and subtraction, etc. so he will certainly be at the top of his kindergarten class next year.  This makes me happy but also nervous.  I hope he gets a good teacher next year!

Anyway, so back to U5 soccer.   He is one of the oldest kids in the winter session.  They work on skills for 30 minutes and then divide into teams for the last 20 minutes.  Normally there are about 20 kids there so they divide into 6 small teams.  The coaches have been dividing them up by skill so Erik's always been on a team with other older kids that understand the concept of the game.

Well, this week only 10 kids showed up and the main coach was gone.  This time they divided them into two teams.  Erik ended up on a team with one other boy and three girls.  Two of girls looked like they had just turned four and spent most of the game twirling in circles.

On the other team: 5 boys, all whom seemed to at least be interested in playing the game.

Now I know that this is U5 soccer but seriously?!  Why would you put all three girls on the same team. One of the girls was even wearing a shirt that said, "I'm a Daisy."  Shoot me now!

Here's how the game went down via text to a friend, mom of 3 girls and a soccer coach...

(All of the texts are from me.  She responded later, asking for photos. I didn't take any!)

We are at soccer, only two teams.  Yellow is 5 boys, not Erik. Pink is 3 girls, 2 who keep sitting down, and two boys, one that is a very frustrated Erik.  He keeps telling the girls, when they play, "Go the other way, you're going the wrong way (down the field)."   Makes me feel good about putting him on U6 this spring.  3 vs 5 is not fun.  Poor guy.  (He never stopped running for 20 minutes.)

It'll be a good lesson in sportsmanship.

And now the one girl that understands the game is down.  2 vs 5. :(

One girl is sitting down, one is twirling.

This is very difficult for his type A mother.  Haha!

And now the other boy is crawling on the floor.  Yikes!  1 vs 5!

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I love to watch Erik play soccer and I've always found 5 year old soccer to be fun and entertaining.  Somehow this weekends match totally annoyed me.  I really don't understand why they didn't divide up the teams more fairly and split up the 4 year old girls, especially after realizing they were going to spend most of the time twirling around.  Ha!

I am AWFUL at sports.  I love to exercise and am a pretty good runner but anything that involves hand and eye coordination does not work for me.  That being said, I have spent most of my life doing the best I possibly can at whatever I try and am just a wee bit competitive.  Mainly with myself but apparently if I'd been part of a team sport ever in my life, playing on a "good" team which would have increased my chance of success would have been quite important to me.  (Of course, I am not good so therefore would never be part of a "good" team.)  Oh dear!

Nothing against girls who twirl during a soccer game (I do remember scoring a basket for our opponents when I was on a middle school basketball team, first and last organized sport for me ever) but I am hoping that there will be a little less of that come this spring on Erik's U6 team since they will all be at least 5.  We will see!

Oh to be type A is tough!

 (I  hope Erik has no idea how irritated I was as he didn't seem to care nearly as much as I did. Ha!)