Soccer Practice

Eliana had her second soccer practice today. I was so annoyed at the people sitting next to us! As soon as the grandma sat down, she lit up a cigarette and started smoking. We were sitting downwind from them and I couldn't breathe any fresh air. I get so annoyed with people smoking at events for children! What happened to being role models? I told Andy that I think I'm going to start coughing and telling people I'm severely allergic. I can just picture my lungs breathing in all of that yucky smoke. Then I start thinking about Sarah breathing in all that yucky smoke. We will have to be sure to not sit near them next time.

Eliana did well, but she didn't make any goals. After she had finished her turn with each of the drills, I could tell that she was getting more and more discouraged. She was starting to slump her shoulders and hang her head, looking dejected as she walked back to her place in line. For the last ten minutes of practice, the coach divided them up into teams. I watched Eliana during the first play and she was not thinking about the game at all. All of the other kids ran toward the ball and she is just standing there, swinging her arms, and looking up at the sky. I walked over to the edge of the playing zone and told her to pay attention.

During the second play, she did run over to the ball, but then got upset when the ball got out of bounds before she could actually make a kick at it. The coach saw that she was getting upset and told her that she did an awesome job during that play. She wasn't really buying it so for the final play of the day, he asked her to stand in the defense line. She was supposed to stand there until the ball came at her and then kick it away from her goal. The ball did make its way over to her, but she ended up turning around and kicking it towards the wrong goal.

She was very upset and started crying. The coach is telling her that it's ok, it's just a practice game, and that she is doing a great job. She stops crying long enough to do the team chant and then wants me to carry her back to the bleachers. On the way home, she told us that she was upset about not getting a goal during the entire practice. We tried telling her that no one gets a goal every time and that is ok. You can still play well without making a goal by being a team player and enjoying the game. I think that she understood and felt better about it. I hope she handles it differently next week.

I should have realized her reaction was a possibility. Whenever we play bowling on the Wii, she gets really upset if she doesn't make a strike during the game. On the flip side though, she gets extremely happy if she does make a strike! She has really intense emotions, it's either one extreme or the other. It's either the best day of her life or the worst day of her life. It's either the best meal she's ever had or the worst meal she's ever had. There is no in between with her. I plan on taking her out this week before her next practice and kicking the ball around with her for a little while to explain the game more to her. I am hoping that she will get a lot out of the soccer season and that this will be a good opportunity for her to learn a few life lessons.