Soccer Update

Shane seems to have come a long way FINALLY with his soccer playing.

Two Saturdays ago he was the no soccer playing kid and it felt like we were truly torturing him with soccer. That same Saturday afternoon we were at a birthday party with a couple of his friends that he has known since he was about 6 months old. They started kicking a ball around and he just went soccer crazy. He was the leader of the pack: dribbling, kicking it and falling down. He had a blast. We tried to really talk up what he did and compare it to his soccer practices with his soccer team.

This Saturday, soccer practice started out on pretty much the same foot. He was slightly more willing to be on the field and to warm up with his team. When the game started he again was slightly more willing to go stand out on the field, but still far far away from the action. I told him that if he played I had a surprise for him in the car. Bribing hadn't worked before, but it never hurts to give it another try. That seemed to spark some interest in him.

The game was coming to an end with just 10 minutes left. We said he needed to go out and "play" one more time to get his surprise. He ran right onto the field straight into the action and really started playing. Our mouths just dropped open. He kicked the ball, dribbled it and even took a few hits without any problems at all. At one point while the teams were gathering themselves back up for a kick off, he was so excited to play he just took the ball from the referee and started kicking it towards their goal. He was on fire!! The coach told him she was so proud and loved seeing him play. He came off the field with the biggest grin on his face. He even gave us his own kick count. "I kicked the ball 3 times!"

We can't wait to see what next week brings. My guess is he'll still need a warm up period, but we hope he hops right back in and starts playing. Maybe he'll even score a goal!!