Soccer

I am up to my eyeballs in soccer. Or so it feels. My youngest son is still kicking ass on the kindergarten team, and scores most of their goals. It's a riot to watch, and this has been so good for his self esteem. The only drawback is that his games are on Saturday mornings at 8. It's early, and cold! The girls have fun, but the oldest one insisted last weekend that she wasn't going to wear her shoes, her jacket, or her shirt. So I had one half naked 2 year old on my hands, and a bunch of parents looking my way, wondering what the hell I was thinking. I was merely doing them a favor by not making her put her clothes back on until she was ready, to avoid an ugly scene on the sidelines. It didn't take her long to decide that being half dressed wasn't such a great idea.
Later that morning it was my 8 year olds turn to play. Being in the third grade changes things slightly. They practice once a week, and instead of playing other teams from his school, they play other schools. They are still only 8 years old, so the accuracy in which they play is still up and coming. In my opinion, it's still supposed to be fun, and not so competitive. Unfortunately, my son's coach doesn't see it the same way.. She is clearly there to win, even if it means that she's only going to play the "better" players. And it also means that when the goalie lets 6 balls by him, she's going to throw her arms up in frustration and yell "what's going on??" to him.
Having said that.. my little boy is not one of the more skilled players. He is clearly there for the fun of it, which sadly is lacking. When he gets on the field he plays "around" the other players. He never once touches the ball, and when he runs, he gets his left arm swinging like a windmill. It's pretty amusing to watch.
My son was on the field for less than 10 minutes of the entire 40 minute game. Most of the other players were on for at least half, and there were some who played the whole game. I understand that at an older level, you wouldn't put in the "windmill kid" for a lot of playing time. But these kids are 8 years old. They should all play an equal amount of time. This is the age where we want to encourage them to love the sport. To see where they can go within their own limits. And to give them time to learn and practice their skills.
I'm not sure if my son will want to play next year. Thankfully he has no clue that he's being benched. He just has fun, playing with his teammates on the sideline, having a munchkin or two.
My husband emailed his coach later that day, and asked her what her philosophy on coaching was. He never heard back from her. He coaches middle school kids, and tries to give everyone an equal amount of time on the field, as much as he can anyway.
It's disappointing that my son got stuck with this crappy coach.. can I just add (on a more judgmental note) This woman has got the mullet from hell, and wears pink warm up pants! Or shorts, with tube socks pulled up to her knees! A total fashion disaster.. there, now I feel better!