Growingupsoccer

Soccer plays a huge part in the life of my family.  Two fo my three children are the biggest soccerheads.  My oldest not so much .. his passion is food.. he has his own blog about his adventures learning about, preparing, and eating food.  I adore all three of my kids and am trying to give them all the tools that they need to advance in the things they love so much. 

Am I the typical crazy soccermom.. yeah pretty much.  I coached AYSO for 6 years.  I started when my oldest son was 5 before he vetoed the beautiful game.  Then I continued with my daughter.  I even had the pleasure of coaching my youngest for one season. 

 Both of my little ones, Val 8, Cory 6, are showing great promise.  My daughter is currently playing for Los Gauchos Soccer Club in Redlands CA.   This was the first time she played for another coach. This wasn’t always the easiest thing for her but overall I think she did learn a great deal.  The biggest thing about Val is her heart.  She is what I call a mighty midget.  She is one of the shortest players on her team and probably in the entire league.  But don’t be fooled by her height I’ve seen her take out players nearly twice as tall as she is and definitely twice her weight.  She has also recently started playing part time – when there is no conflict- with Cory’s Sunday team.

 Cory still plays in AYSO but also plays for a Yucaipa United – part of a Mexican league that travels around the Inland Empire- on Sundays.  Cory showed his ability at a very early age.  Last Spring was suppose to be his last season in U6 with AYSO but he was moved up because there was absolutely no challenge left for him there.  Even if he was more than a year younger than most of the players on his team he was one of the strongest.  This year he played again in U8 and was one of if not the strongest players in this age group. 

As their mom I am being approached about both of them on a regular basis.  I am coming to grips with the fact that they are really good little players and that I will need to make choices for them that will make the difference in their development and growth in the game.  Some of you are probably thinking I’m taking this all too seriously but I do take these things seriously because I know how important it is to them.   The day they tell me they don’t want to play anymore I will be ok we’re done but until then I will do my best to give them all the tools they need to move forward.  My goal is to help them love the game, have fun, and keep learning and challenging themselves. 

I can only hope I don’t make too many mistakes.