Soccer Registration

One of the papers that Luke came home with on Thursday in his school courier was a flyer for the local youth soccer recreational league. I was concerned that it was something new they were trying to get off the ground, but the flyer says they've been around since the 70s. Wow! I don't even think I'd heard of soccer when I was Luke's age. We debated for a couple of days whether or not to do it, but we didn't have long to decide. Saturday was the deadline.

Practice for his age group is only one evening per week, with games on Sunday for 9 weeks starting in mid-September. I don't like having all of my Saturdays tied up, especially when one of them will be his birthday party, but I know it would be good for him. He's never been involved in sports, beyond his one summer of swim lessons. That's mostly our fault. I know we need to start him early, preferably in a team sport. This seemed the perfect opportunity, and it is only 9 weekends, all during school. Where exactly are we going to go during the school year?



So we did it! We went to the field on Saturday and signed him up. Everyone was very nice and helpful, though we did get the usual incredulous "he's only 5; are you sure?" comments. (Pretty sure. I was there. And yes, we brought his birth certificate, just in case.) They debated whether to put him in the group he technically qualifies for (age 4-5) or whether to move him up (ages 6-7) due to his size and the fact that he will be 6 in about 8 weeks (ACK!!). "We want to be sure he has a quality experience. Lots of kids in the next age bracket have never played either." Yes, but I don't want him to be playing with bigger, older, more coordinated kids and get discouraged, as he is prone to do if he is not instantly good at something (gee, I can't imagine who he gets that from ::cough::DH:: ::cough:: ::andme::cough::). By the same token, I don't want him to hurt any other kids because he is just huge!

We decided to go with the 4-5 group so that most of the kids he will be playing with are all at the same level (no experience at all). Normally, whatever group you are in at fall registration is the one you stay in until the following fall. But for him, they put a note on his registration form that if, after the fall season, we think he needs to move up, then he can. I'm not sure if we'll continue in the spring; we might switch to baseball or something, but I appreciate their concern, and the fact that they are willing to bend the rules to do whatever is best for him. Definitely makes us more likely to come back! Don't worry, there will be pictures and video to come, I'm sure! LOL

Currently feeling: ready to play