Soccer

Sydney and Tatum really like soccer. They like to play it and they like to watch it. Sydney played for short time when she was 5 and we lived in Spencerport. It really wasn't her thing, but she seemed to be having a great time at it. Syd has never been super aggressive in sports and really enjoyed people watching and picking dandelions. I don't think that she ever played a game without walking off the field with a flower bouquet for me in one hand. She would also try to come over to us as many times as possible because she was sooo thirsty or she had to go potty. This didn't bother me all that much because kids are kids. It drove Dave crazy. He just couldn't understand how the ball could roll right in front of her and she would glance at it like, "oh am I supposed to do something with this?" She finished out the season and she didn't ask to play again for a few years and we really didn't encourage it. I found other activities that she had more interest in. Now she plays soccer every summer with way more enthusiasm and really enjoys it.

Tatum has been very excited to finally get to play this year after watching many of Sydney's games and going to many Rhino's games. We have always known that Tatum can be a bit competitive and does not like to be last, but I didn't really understand until this last soccer practice. Her 3rd practice was this past Tuesday and the coach asked them if they wanted to play a practice game.

There were 8 girls at practice and they had two on offense and two on defense for each side. The field is way smaller than a normal sized one. Tatum was positioned as a forward and she has one foot on the ground and one foot resting on the soccer ball. Her cheeks are bright red, blond hair in a pony tail, shin guards with black soccer socks on over them, and she is hunched over a bit like a runner ready to take off. I was a little concerned at this point because the look of determination on her face was very unlike the happy go lucky looks on her friends' faces.

The coach blows the whistle and Tatum takes off dribbling the ball directly to the goal while taking down everyone else in her path. I'm watching her and my mouth is hanging open in complete shock. The other parents are making those "Oh" noises as she shoves each child out of the way. Some girls actually fall down, including the other forward. The mom next to me starts to laugh and says wow, your daughter did great. Uhhhh, did she just see what I saw?

I was a little embarrassed at this point but happy with her determination. The other mom and I are talking and laughing and I notice that she stops mid-sentence to stare at something. I turn to see what has her attention and that's when total embarrassment sets in. Tatum is on the sideline wrestling on the ground with another little girl. They are fighting about who gets to take the ball back to the center circle. I'm not just talking about a little grabbing back and forth. I'm talking full out on the ground wrestling. After a little bit of the coaches trying to get them to stop, Tatum loses her grip a bit and the other little girl grabs the ball and stands in delight. Just when I think it's over, Tatum gets up and runs over to the other little girl. She slaps the ball down out of the girl's hands , grabs it, and runs to the center circle. She is now standing there ready to play again and looking around wondering where everyone is.

Total and complete insanity. What just happened here? Oh my goodness, who's child is this? We are sooooo not that kind of family. So I sit there pretending to be invisible and wait for the coach to give them a water break. Tatum runs over with a huge smile on her face to get her water. I calmly hold up my right hand making that pointer finger come-over-here-right-now gesture. She bounces over and I whisper some lovely parenting advice that she doesn't look all that concerned about. It must have worked because the rest of the practice went much better. That is until next time and I do believe that it just might be Dave's turn to take her to her next practice :-)