As a mother of a kid with plenty of fire thanks for the encouragement. I’m watching my oldest son’s drive and competitiveness with both awe and anxiety. Waiting for the celebration or the car wreck But we are learning and growing. Being a good sport, supportive teammate, and also having that drive and passion is a balance.
Thanks to both of these mothers for sharing their vulnerabilities and responding with thoughtful and helpful words. To the mom of the fiery, competitive, wonderful daughter who is wrestling with not being the best on the soccer team: I just want to share that my son, and first born, experienced this same situation around the same age. At the age of 7, we moved him into the "competitive" soccer league at our club, him also with a December birthday. He made the "B" team, and he was one of the smallest and youngest kids on the team. Not the fastest, or most skilled. He had a number of frustrating games and moments that we had to talk through and feel our way through. I wondered, fairly often, if this was the best place for him but he did want to continue playing, and we were seeing progress.
He has remained on that team for two years now, and we are seeing him blossom in changes -- friendships have developed, his sense of humor about himself is growing, the team has lost and won a number of games together, and because he has played with a number of players that started off "more skilled" or faster than him, he has channeled that reality into his own game, which has vastly improved. I would encourage your daughter, and yourself, to continue the adventure with soccer (if she really enjoys it). Her future is very bright. Lots of love.
As a mother of a kid with plenty of fire thanks for the encouragement. I’m watching my oldest son’s drive and competitiveness with both awe and anxiety. Waiting for the celebration or the car wreck But we are learning and growing. Being a good sport, supportive teammate, and also having that drive and passion is a balance.
Thanks to both of these mothers for sharing their vulnerabilities and responding with thoughtful and helpful words. To the mom of the fiery, competitive, wonderful daughter who is wrestling with not being the best on the soccer team: I just want to share that my son, and first born, experienced this same situation around the same age. At the age of 7, we moved him into the "competitive" soccer league at our club, him also with a December birthday. He made the "B" team, and he was one of the smallest and youngest kids on the team. Not the fastest, or most skilled. He had a number of frustrating games and moments that we had to talk through and feel our way through. I wondered, fairly often, if this was the best place for him but he did want to continue playing, and we were seeing progress.
He has remained on that team for two years now, and we are seeing him blossom in changes -- friendships have developed, his sense of humor about himself is growing, the team has lost and won a number of games together, and because he has played with a number of players that started off "more skilled" or faster than him, he has channeled that reality into his own game, which has vastly improved. I would encourage your daughter, and yourself, to continue the adventure with soccer (if she really enjoys it). Her future is very bright. Lots of love.