Sign me up!

Ethan started playing soccer through AYSO this fall. (That’s American Youth Soccer Organization, for those of you who aren’t soccer players/parents.) We’ve been meaning to sign up for a couple of years now, but you have to register in June for the Fall/Spring season, and I always think of it in November. And Ethan is very wishy-washy about whether he wants to play. First he does, then he doesn’t. So finally, this year, I just signed him up and figured if he hated it, we wouldn’t do it again.

AYSO is a national, volunteer run organization. So, naturally, they are looking for volunteers to run the teams. And, being a Mom who is subject to guilt, I have ended up co-coaching Ethan’s team. It’s really not that bad … my co-coach has older kids and has been an AYSO coach for several years, so he does most of the work. I end up running the games (but he does the lineups) because he also refs our games, and he runs most of the practices.

Yes, practices. We’ve moved into the world of weekly practices, weekend games (only one of each for now). This is serious stuff, folks. (Okay, it’s mostly for fun, but it is a time commitment.) And again, this year, as the season start approached, Ethan got more and more reluctant to play, and started to regret signing up (and who was I to tell him he didn’t ever really agree to sign up?). 

During Ethan’s first game, he proved he has true soccer star potential — at least when it comes to a flair for drama and taking dives. The poor kid was so wiped out from our busy day (and his sleepless night before) that he spent half the game on the ground. The other coach even commented on it. I was really hoping this wasn’t an indication of how the season was going to unfold. 

This past week, he seemed really pumped up about practice, and was bouncing around after we were done, all excited about the drills. But I really knew I had made the right choice, signing him up, at the game on Saturday. 

About five minutes into the game, he came running over to the sideline and shouted to me, “Mom, can you sign me up for next season?”

“You’re already signed up for spring, you sign up for both at the same time.”

“Great!” and he dashed back into the game. 

He also is taking the time to learn the other kids names, and spends more time playing with them than hanging with me, which is a big change. (And, honestly, one John and I are even more excited about than his growing soccer skills.) Ethan will always be more of a “on my own” guy, I’m sure. But that’s all the more reason why I’m happy to see him throwing himself into the team aspect of playing a team sport. Because I think it’s good for him to learn how to make more friends his own age. 

So look out world, the Green Hornets are out to win the U8 boys division, and are off to a good (2-0) start.