I went to Oklahoma to watch my 6 year old niece play soccer today. We played out in the front yard for a little while before heading over to the game and I realized that maybe she wasn't really into this sport. I asked my sister what was up and she said she will run around but she does things like hug the coach in the middle of the game and yawn a lot.
So off we go to the field and well, my sister was correct. In a 30 minute game my niece must have yawned 20 times. I saw her hug the coach once. She had two really good blocks where she stopped their player from advancing and kicked it down the half field they were playing on but that was about it.
I think what floored me most was the way the games are run. They play on a half field, they get a snack at halftime and all the parents make a bridge for them to run under after the games. Things have changed greatly since my one year of playing soccer as a child. I believe we played on a full field, there were no snacks at all and we were told to, "keep running until you puke." So as a super ultra competitive aunt it was hard to stand by watching her yawn and having no clue what was going on. I am screaming for her to slide over and block out one of their players, to back up and get in position and to keep running. It was in this moment I realized why I was not meant to have children. I know I would push them so hard in sports just as my father did me. Any child of mine might possibly kill me in my sleep after yelling at them a few 100 times to "run until you puke!"
It was a fun afternoon and very entertaining. I love my niece dearly but I think she might want to stick to gymnastics at this point.
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