U6 Soccer

We just had our third game last night, our second game the night before and our first game last Saturday.  This whole week has been soccer, soccer, soccer.  We have 2 more games this weekend.  Then next week is tournament time.  It might be too much in two weeks for the younger kids.  They've now had as many games as they have practices and they were going to practice 2 days a week.  They didn't get enough coaches to start the season on time so they had to crunch everything together. 

I think Leo would benefit from a longer season.  He has shown great improvement in the little time he has played.  He takes my advise and uses it on the field.  I think he even hears me yelling from the sideline and tries to do what I tell him.  He practices when he is not playing.  This season he is really into it. 

Last night he got his first goal for the season.  He had two more shots that miraculously got blocked.  I think he can kick the ball harder than I can.  Usually he is on defense as he plays that position well.  Wednesday night he kicked the ball from one end of the field to the other to clear it from his area.

He might see some more offense after last night.  Christina said she is not coaching any more after this year.  She says that she gets too into the game and doesn't pay attention to how she should be helping the kids on the field.  It's ok though the parents are all telling the kids what to do when it comes to gametime.  She also had a run in with a soccer mom that wasn't too pretty.  Those soccer mom's can be vicious.  It resulted in the mother not letting the child play any more.  Christina is pretty upset how it turned out for the child. 

Now that I have seen U6 soccer first hand, I will probably coach when Gavin is coming up.  You can really work with the kids to get them playing well.  They are still all about the fun of the game.  It looks like a really rewarding age to coach.  I really enjoyed coaching 3-4 year olds in Ohio as the kids are so funny.  At  this age they take it a little more serious and really try.  I enjoy watching the kids have fun but I'm a competative person.  This age has it all, fun and competitiveness.

We have 21 U6 players out this year and have 2 teams in Kiowa.  It's too bad soccer isn't a more popular sport here because we have some talented young soccer players.  The good thing about soccer here is that it gets the younger kids involved in team activities and interested in sports in general.  They can take what they learn in soccer and use it in the other sports they will play.

If you are in an area where your kids can play soccer, let them.  They might not be too in to it at first but they are probably learning some in between pulling grass and pulling their shirts over their heads.  Try coaching a season too.  It's very rewarding later on when your child asks you to coach them again.  They tend to take you a little more serious, like you just might know what you are saying to them.