Inclusiveness
Jan. 28th, 2012 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisnewdayWe just got back, a short while ago, from Little Jay's last indoor soccer game of the first fall/winter session. It's been a rough season for them, so far. We began as an outdoor team three years ago and have played one outdoor session every spring and two indoor sessions, of eleven weeks each, every fall/winter season since.
Part of the reason for the tough season is that we switched facilities this fall in order to continue playing on a full-sized field, an option not available for age nine and under coed teams at the other facility. And it's taken us awhile to adjust to playing the full-size field as a coed team.
The other reason is that we've chosen from the start to be an inclusive team. While some of the teams we've played hold tryouts to select players, we've always fielded a broad assortment of kids, some athletic, some not; some fit, some whose parents hope that soccer will encourage fitness; a little gal who was hearing-impaired, a boy on heavy meds for ADHD, and several who are probably a little young for our level.
As a result, we've taken our lumps along the way but always told ourselves and the kids that it's really about learning the fundamentals of the game and having fun. But for some reason that seems to have become harder to buy into lately--for both ourselves and the kids.
And maybe that's because we've never had to endure a season quite as bad as this one. One in which the "mercy rule" has been invoked, and the scoring clock turned off, in at least two or three of our games, for instance.
Still, I've come away from a number of our games feeling like our kids have really accomplished something for themselves. No matter how bad things have gotten, we've always maintained a high level of sportsmanship on the field as well as a measure of personal composure along the sidelines when the games were over.
And some of our older kids, three of them including Little Jay, have become disciplined players who stop the ball, look for a teammate who is open, and actually pass the ball rather than wildly swinging away and kicking it in whatever direction they happen to be facing.
This morning, in fact, three of our five goals were scored off of passes between Little Jay and Maya, a willowy little gal with blazing speed and an astonishingly powerful kick. She and LJ are often paired off against each other in practice drills and the result is always intense. But come game time they seem to have a chemistry between them that's been really good for the team.
That's quite different from five or six games ago, when our rare goals were scored on individual breakaways, usually by Little Jay, Maya, or Hector. And I made the comment to our coach, following one especially dismal defeat, that our kids were finally showing signs of remembering what they did in practice and of playing as a team.
So today we won our last game against the same team that we beat in our first game. And now the kids--as well as their parents and grandparents--have a couple of weeks off before the second session. Unfortunately, this is when you hear those rumors about who's coming back and who's not. And it appears that one of our better players may be one of those mid-season departures, reportedly for a different sport.
The other side of it is that my grandson has caught the eye of one of the dads who played pro soccer for a number of years over in Europe. And following today's game he commented to my son that LJ has some serious talent and really needs to be on another team.
To be honest, as much as I've supported our philosophy and practice of inclusiveness, I've thought the same thing. Even to the point of asking LJ if he thought he'd like to try out for a better team. Because I've always encouraged him to use every interest and every ability to reach those goals that we all have for our children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Which, in his case, would be college. And I've been pretty intent on this because it seems unlikely that his parents will be able to pay for it when the time comes. So I've encouraged him to look at sports, as well as his academics, as a way of helping himself toward a better life through continuing education.
But, when I asked him about a different team, Little Jay unequivocally answered that he'd rather stay with his friends. And that, at least for now, is a good enough answer. Because one of the things we most wanted for him, through his participation in sports, was friends. And here, on this team, he has them...
LPK
LiveJournal
1.28.2012
Part of the reason for the tough season is that we switched facilities this fall in order to continue playing on a full-sized field, an option not available for age nine and under coed teams at the other facility. And it's taken us awhile to adjust to playing the full-size field as a coed team.
The other reason is that we've chosen from the start to be an inclusive team. While some of the teams we've played hold tryouts to select players, we've always fielded a broad assortment of kids, some athletic, some not; some fit, some whose parents hope that soccer will encourage fitness; a little gal who was hearing-impaired, a boy on heavy meds for ADHD, and several who are probably a little young for our level.
As a result, we've taken our lumps along the way but always told ourselves and the kids that it's really about learning the fundamentals of the game and having fun. But for some reason that seems to have become harder to buy into lately--for both ourselves and the kids.
And maybe that's because we've never had to endure a season quite as bad as this one. One in which the "mercy rule" has been invoked, and the scoring clock turned off, in at least two or three of our games, for instance.
Still, I've come away from a number of our games feeling like our kids have really accomplished something for themselves. No matter how bad things have gotten, we've always maintained a high level of sportsmanship on the field as well as a measure of personal composure along the sidelines when the games were over.
And some of our older kids, three of them including Little Jay, have become disciplined players who stop the ball, look for a teammate who is open, and actually pass the ball rather than wildly swinging away and kicking it in whatever direction they happen to be facing.
This morning, in fact, three of our five goals were scored off of passes between Little Jay and Maya, a willowy little gal with blazing speed and an astonishingly powerful kick. She and LJ are often paired off against each other in practice drills and the result is always intense. But come game time they seem to have a chemistry between them that's been really good for the team.
That's quite different from five or six games ago, when our rare goals were scored on individual breakaways, usually by Little Jay, Maya, or Hector. And I made the comment to our coach, following one especially dismal defeat, that our kids were finally showing signs of remembering what they did in practice and of playing as a team.
So today we won our last game against the same team that we beat in our first game. And now the kids--as well as their parents and grandparents--have a couple of weeks off before the second session. Unfortunately, this is when you hear those rumors about who's coming back and who's not. And it appears that one of our better players may be one of those mid-season departures, reportedly for a different sport.
The other side of it is that my grandson has caught the eye of one of the dads who played pro soccer for a number of years over in Europe. And following today's game he commented to my son that LJ has some serious talent and really needs to be on another team.
To be honest, as much as I've supported our philosophy and practice of inclusiveness, I've thought the same thing. Even to the point of asking LJ if he thought he'd like to try out for a better team. Because I've always encouraged him to use every interest and every ability to reach those goals that we all have for our children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Which, in his case, would be college. And I've been pretty intent on this because it seems unlikely that his parents will be able to pay for it when the time comes. So I've encouraged him to look at sports, as well as his academics, as a way of helping himself toward a better life through continuing education.
But, when I asked him about a different team, Little Jay unequivocally answered that he'd rather stay with his friends. And that, at least for now, is a good enough answer. Because one of the things we most wanted for him, through his participation in sports, was friends. And here, on this team, he has them...
LPK
LiveJournal
1.28.2012
