R. gets better at soccer each time he is on the field. He really enjoys playing--in fact, yesterday, the battery on my car was dead (a ridiculous story) and he was in a PANIC telling me he HAD to get to practice!
Although I am sure that you think I am biased--the fact is that this kid is SMART. He is the smallest kid on his team, and probably the youngest--but he is one of two who actually understand what is going on. I'm not kidding--the other 8 kids either sit down, try to trip kids running by, pick the ball up and run away with it, or they actually just leave the field. At one point in Saturday's game, the ball (and therefore all 16 kids on the field) came over to our sideline. 3 of the kids on our team kept running--all the way off the field and to their parents to ask for a snack!! Crazy!
Anyway--R. really loves it. He understands the concept of where the ball is supposed to go, and he is starting to understand the concept of working with another member of his team to pass it back and forth to get to the goal. (As opposed to what most kids at this age think of soccer--they are solely responsible for themselves and kick it as many times as possible. It is like having 16 teams on the field!)
The only thing that holds him back is that he is smaller, so therefore not as quick. Several of the kids on his team will turn 6 this summer. That is a year and a half older than him! At this age, that is quite a difference! He doesn't seem to be bothered by it though. I think he makes up for it by knowing where to go. He may not be the fastest, but when the fastest kids are chasing airplanes and picking flowers, he can get to the ball a fair share of times!
He is not afraid of the ball, or of the other kids running into him or over him. He gets right in the middle of the pack and swings his legs around with the rest of them!
His coach says he is amazed by how well R. talks. People are always surprised, because he has the voice of a 4 year old, but the vocabulary of a 14 year old! (I TOLD you he was a genius!!) Anyway--we love the coach too. R. thinks he is the coolest thing ever. He tells his friends at preschool, "My coach is a Marine. He's 19 years old, and he was in high school when I was born!"
1 comment:
It doesn't surprise me one bit that R is so smart and understands the game as well as he does. He always had a great vocabulary when we knew him when he was itty-bitty. But even more than that, you could always tell that he was really thinking. Always thinking about something. He's just such a cutie! I love that picture of him with his coach...he looks so little, but has gotten so big! His coach is 19? Good gracious!
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