I Wouldn't Do It Again!

Soccer is finally over! Well, for Austyn it is. Taylor has a tournament this week and tonight is their first game. It was a great season, and I had a great team. It was a really big learning experience for me. I've never played soccer on a team before. I mean, sure I played in school in PE class, but it was never anything 'serious.' Needless to say, I didn't recall much. I know the basics, and enough to just get me by. I guess that was great considering that's about all I needed to know to coach 3-4 year old kids. I had 10 kids on the team and they were all so different. I got to know them each and knew how to get them all to play. I was even able to get one little girl, Alyssa, to play when she has always refused to play in the past. She was very shy and rarely spoke, but she got out there and played! She only cried once and that was when someone plowed into her. Austyn really didn't have much interest in playing. It really surprised me. I think he thought it was more about just kicking the ball around and scoring goals. He didn't realize soccer required so much running. Kaitlyn was goofy. She never whined or really complained. She was really slow and she would always say, "Coach, I'm soooooo slooooow!" and then she would giggle and keep running. Ariana was quiet and shy at first, but she opened up really fast. By the end of the season she was a clown and she was the only girl that would and could keep up with the boys. She was a fast little one and she'd steal the ball from the boys and score. Addisyn was a little dramatic. She was always tired and cold and she always needed a break or a drink. She was really sweet too. She was always telling me how pretty I was and how much she liked me. =o) She's a great confidence booster. lol. Ian was the biggest and oldest kid on the team and he made sure everyone knew it! He was fast and a great soccer player. Diego was next in line as far as size went. He was also really fast and a great player, but he wasn't the nicest boy on the block. I had to have a talk with his parents a few times about pushing. It finally stuck in his head by the end of the season and he wasn't pushing anymore. Ruben was a small, shy boy and he didn't talk much. In fact, I don't think he really understood much English. His parents were always speaking in Spanish to him. He was mean. If he didn't get the ball, he'd punch, push, pinch, or do whatever he had to do to let you know he wasn't happy. He was often throwing temper tantrums and left most of the games. Ontarion was a itty bitty thing. He pretended he was shy, but it was all a ploy. He always had to pretend he was a car when he played soccer. And he was always crashing (falling on the ground). He was a character. Lara was the smallest one on the team. She was shy quiet and very sensitive. She got knocked around a few times by the older kids, but she always ended up back on the field giggling and laughing. She rarely even got the ball because she half walked half ran around the field in circles. That was my team. One of the parents asked if I would coach next year and I think I shocked them with my answer. lol. I said, "Nope. I don't think I'll ever do it again!" And its not that it wasn't fun or that the kids were bad. It was a lot of fun, the kids were great and it was very rewarding, but I didn't realize how consuming it was. You have to be CPR and First Aid certified, you have to go through coach's training and have background checks done as well as getting finger printed. You basically have to do everything someone would need to do if they were getting a job working with children on the base. Its also hard to get parents to help! I mentioned at EVERY practice or game that the more volunteers the merrier, but only one Dad ever helped. I'm grateful to have had one willing parent rather than none. But most people don't realize that behind the scenes hours that these volunteer coaches have to put in, and most people don't value the fact that we are all just volunteers. It was a lot of fun, but I think I am most at home on the sidelines with the rest of the parents. I'd rather be that obsessive photo taking parent, or the team mom than the coach! I didn't get to be team mom for Austyn, but I still put together an end of season party for his team. I was team mom for Taylor's team, and I put together a party for them too. I enjoy the team mom, just not the coach's position! I'm glad that I was able to have this experience and I have learned to appreciate the coaches much more than I have in the past.