Soccer Mom

This past April, my oldest daughter went to the park with the neighbourhood kids who are a few years older... When I reached the park shortly after, I watched as my 7-year old walked off the soccer field to sit on the sidelines as the others went on to play soccer.

When I got closer, I saw that she was teary-eyed and was clenching on to the cell phone she was asked to hold on to. I asked why she wasn't playing soccer with her friends. She replied that she's no good at soccer. They had been playing tag and other games that had been fun, but once they switched to soccer, she chose to sit out, feeling like she might not be good enough.

I believe that what followed became a pivotal moment in my daughter's life (and I could have easily missed it). We walked home together and talked along the way. She shared about not really liking sports because she doesn't like the competitiveness, feeling like she's not really good, and not liking when she loses (who does really, just something we've all got to learn!)...

It's at that moment that I decided that my daughter would not be another woman who like so many grows up believing they just aren't the athletic types... then looking back on their life after having children, they wish they'd been more active... I believe that we all need to be active, regardless of whether we'll be winning Olympic medals. It doesn't matter if we're good in every sport, but it is important to find a sport or physical activity that works for us!

It would have been easy for us to label her as the "artsy type" and keep her out of athletics... but in that moment, I realized the importance of not doing that! I was already seeing her self-esteem being affected by it in that incident at the park. That was not going to be my girl, sitting on the sidelines as the designated cell phone holder. Not my daughter.

SO, my girl and I chatted some more when we got home. We looked up the town soccer club, discovered that we hadn't missed registration yet (it ended that week!), and we discussed the idea of her playing soccer. She got really excited about learning the sport, not too keen on the idea of playing games, but we talked about it all being a part of sport: practicing, learning, making friends, playing, winning, losing, all the while learning to be a good sport.

Her next question: "what would I wear?" The idea of having a team uniform and those special soccer shoes too was getting her pretty excited... and the possibility of winning a trophy (like her friends up the street)... well...(thankfully they apparently all win trophies in the soccer club tournaments ;) I talked it over with my husband, and we had her registered the next day.

Since April, she's insisted on joining me on a couple of runs (she ran 20 minutes straight without stopping! I know many women who can't do that!)... She has also gone to the park a number of times with our teenage neighbour (who is heading off to university on a soccer scholarship in the fall) to kick the ball around and learn more about the sport. She has been soaking up every second of it all.

Months later, we are a few weeks into the soccer season, and my girl who "didn't like sports" has developed a new found LOVE for soccer. She is watching the FIFA World Cup in South Africa any chance she can, learning where she is to be on the field as she watches the players on TV, and she gets SO excited for soccer night. She's eager, not afraid of the ball on the field and best of all, she's gained a lot of confidence in her sporting ability over the past few months.

This is the type of stuff in life that defines us and impacts our sense of self growing up (which I believe does carry on into adulthood). All that to say, I'm thankful that my girl will grow up to value active living with a stronger self-esteem and sense of self.

Phew... I could have easily missed that, after years of choosing to stay away from soccer because I didn't want a sport to rule our lives in the summer... all in all... I know we made the right call on that one. It is definitely worth it, and we can work our visits to the cottage around the weekly soccer practice/game.

So a soccer mom I have gladly become ;)