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Saturday was another beatdown for my grandson's 9-and-under coed soccer team. To start with, there were four no-shows, including two of the team's best all-around players. And, because we had only a single reserve on the bench, Jason played the entire game without a break, except at the half. The score, at the end, was 7-2 and Jason had scored both of his team's goals.
As usual, he played well. Not flawlessly, but well. He's definitely strongest on offense, where he plays center-forward. He's an exceptional ball-handler, looks to pass when there's an opportunity, and is reasonably accurate when he does. Unfortunately, there's seldom anyone on the other end who can do much with his passes. He's also gotten good about playing his zone, so as to provide an outlet for his teammates. Again, the unfortunate thing is that only a couple of his teammates play with any awareness of the field or are able to pass with any degree of accuracy.
I've previously said that I support a policy of inclusiveness for this team. And I've always made allowances for that in assessing our performance. Our coach is also very laid-back, with respect to his coaching style and expectations. And I'm OK with that as well. Kids this age don't learn or perform well with people yelling at them. And they certainly don't have fun, which is presumably why we're all doing this.
But it's also not much fun being beaten every week, even though we give lip-service to the notion that winning is not the important thing. The thing is, different kids are in it for different reasons. Your kid may be there because he needs to attain a minimal level of fitness while mine may be there precisely because he needs to learn to be competitive. The point is that neither of our kids are being helped toward their respective goals if they're not being supported by the adults who signed them up in the first place.
So if your kid doesn't come to practice, misses games, never sees mom or dad or grampa in the bleachers, and doesn't get any help at home during the week, then both of our kids are suffering for it. (My sister was a single mom who worked full time and wasn't particularly athletic. She grew up in that unfortunate era when girls were called unflattering names if they were. But she learned to throw and catch and bat well enough to help her son participate in Little League.)
Please understand that the LAST thing I'd want in this life is to be one of those Sarah Palin-described "pit bulls in lipstick" who sometimes prowl the sidelines at our games. Aside from the fact that I've never found a shade of lipstick that goes well with my complexion, I think they give kids' sports a bad name and do a disservice to every child and family that's appropriately involved.
But c'mon, if my grandson can run his nine-year-old a$$ off every week, at practice and in games, can throttle back his desire to win so that your child can participate, then I think you might just consider getting up off the couch, putting away the chips'n'dips, and investing a little of your well-fed self as well.
Anyway, that's my rant to start the new week. The game did have its moments and, as I pointed out to my once again disconsolate grandson, a number of his teammates did play very hard and showed a desire to at least compete, if not win. And Jason himself figured in a few more of those "plays of the day" where he fights through 3 or 4 opposing players with that dazzling footwork of his, comes out the other side with the ball, and goes streaking toward the opposing goal.
So if there's a lesson to be learned from this, anything at all to be gained from these weekly beatdowns, it's that one person can't carry the team and that it takes a broadly-supported team to at least be competitive...
LPK
LiveJournal
3.18.2012 (b)
As usual, he played well. Not flawlessly, but well. He's definitely strongest on offense, where he plays center-forward. He's an exceptional ball-handler, looks to pass when there's an opportunity, and is reasonably accurate when he does. Unfortunately, there's seldom anyone on the other end who can do much with his passes. He's also gotten good about playing his zone, so as to provide an outlet for his teammates. Again, the unfortunate thing is that only a couple of his teammates play with any awareness of the field or are able to pass with any degree of accuracy.
I've previously said that I support a policy of inclusiveness for this team. And I've always made allowances for that in assessing our performance. Our coach is also very laid-back, with respect to his coaching style and expectations. And I'm OK with that as well. Kids this age don't learn or perform well with people yelling at them. And they certainly don't have fun, which is presumably why we're all doing this.
But it's also not much fun being beaten every week, even though we give lip-service to the notion that winning is not the important thing. The thing is, different kids are in it for different reasons. Your kid may be there because he needs to attain a minimal level of fitness while mine may be there precisely because he needs to learn to be competitive. The point is that neither of our kids are being helped toward their respective goals if they're not being supported by the adults who signed them up in the first place.
So if your kid doesn't come to practice, misses games, never sees mom or dad or grampa in the bleachers, and doesn't get any help at home during the week, then both of our kids are suffering for it. (My sister was a single mom who worked full time and wasn't particularly athletic. She grew up in that unfortunate era when girls were called unflattering names if they were. But she learned to throw and catch and bat well enough to help her son participate in Little League.)
Please understand that the LAST thing I'd want in this life is to be one of those Sarah Palin-described "pit bulls in lipstick" who sometimes prowl the sidelines at our games. Aside from the fact that I've never found a shade of lipstick that goes well with my complexion, I think they give kids' sports a bad name and do a disservice to every child and family that's appropriately involved.
But c'mon, if my grandson can run his nine-year-old a$$ off every week, at practice and in games, can throttle back his desire to win so that your child can participate, then I think you might just consider getting up off the couch, putting away the chips'n'dips, and investing a little of your well-fed self as well.
Anyway, that's my rant to start the new week. The game did have its moments and, as I pointed out to my once again disconsolate grandson, a number of his teammates did play very hard and showed a desire to at least compete, if not win. And Jason himself figured in a few more of those "plays of the day" where he fights through 3 or 4 opposing players with that dazzling footwork of his, comes out the other side with the ball, and goes streaking toward the opposing goal.
So if there's a lesson to be learned from this, anything at all to be gained from these weekly beatdowns, it's that one person can't carry the team and that it takes a broadly-supported team to at least be competitive...
LPK
LiveJournal
3.18.2012 (b)
