Following Closely: Opening Day!

Monday, April 14, 2014

Opening Day!

Kylie had to be at the ball field at 8:30 for opening day ceremonies. The weather was absolutely gorgeous--sunny and 80 degrees!! After the opening ceremony she came home for a quick lunch and we were back out on the field for her 12:30 game. Her game overlapped with Matthew's 2:00 game so Tim saw her bat once and left to take Matthew across town to his game. We had all the kids come out to both games because it's important to us to teach the kids to cheer each other on as they play! It meant a lot to both kids that their siblings were there.

Kylie's team won their first game 20-8. She scored 2 of those runs. She was nervous going into the game, but after as she was licking her snow cone she said she had a blast and she can't wait until Monday night's game.

I felt bad for the other team because the coaches were not very encouraging. They were yelling at the girls and criticizing them. The coaches would throw up their hands and shake their heads. It just breaks their spirits. That's no way to inspire the best out of these poor girls. They are ages 9-11 and just learning for crying out loud! Kylie is blessed to have a great set of coaches. They are teaching them precise skills and form. The coaches remind them what to do and encourage them all throughout the game. At the end of the game they huddled for a snack and the coach told them how proud he was of them listening to the coaches and for using what they'd learned in practice. They are just the coaches Kylie needed for her first organized sport. She thrives on encouragement and precise skill learning. She calls her head coach "Coach Awesome" and he truly is. He also happens to be our next-door-neighbor so we've known him and his family for 7 years. Often he will work with her next door while he's out working with his own girls. We love our neighbors!

Meanwhile Matthew's team didn't do so hot in indoor soccer. The rec center was late getting a coach lined up for his team. They only had 2 practices and his team got creamed! I'm hoping the coach starts teaching some skills and rules of the game. Right now the boys all run around after the ball like you see in pee wee soccer leagues. This is 11-12 year old boys and it's time they learned to play correctly with positions, precise passing, bouncing the ball off the walls, keeping the ball out wide, then sending it in for the goals. It's so frustrating to me and Tim as former soccer players to not have our son learning to do things the right way, especially at his age and level of the sport. He has so much potential to be good at soccer because of his speed. He just needs to learn some skills and he will be all set. Anyway, Matthew had a blast running around playing "animal ball," so I guess that's all that matters.

I'm so proud of my kids. It is a lot of fun following these kids all over town and watching them learn their game and grow as athletes. Organized sports truly teaches discipline and hard work and I love that!