Futbol

Dempsey decided to have another go at soccer.  There was no hesitation in his decision to play for another season.  He had newfound coordination and confidence that he couldn't quite get in touch with last year.  Last season was a tremendous challenge for him.  He was playing soccer for the first time and learning skills from a coach who only spoke Spanish. To boot, some of the other kids he was playing with were amazing players (for being 1st and 2nd graders) and his lack of skills made him feel a little like a 5th wheel.  He did a lot of running around last year, and didn't have a lot of contact time with the ball.  I think he planned it that way... the idea of getting possession of the ball and then not knowing what to do with it was frightening.  But he still played in each game and had fun doing it.

This time around he felt much more comfortable dribbling, passing and even getting some shots on goal. His team finished the season in 5th place.

The awwwww gee part of the story is that when the season ended last year, he definitely knew his "place" on the team... partly because some kids said some not-so-kind things to him about his not-so-great-abilities but also because he could clearly see that some of the kids were super-skilled.  And his team was pretty darn good... they finished the season in first place.  But at night, when he was going to bed, he would tell us that he was the worst kid on the team.    How sad to hear your child say that.  But he wanted to get back out there and try again.  So finishing 5th place this year was slightly disappointing to him in that moment when he realized how the Dolphins ranked overall, but what he doesn't know yet is that he learned a cool lesson about not giving up.

Enjoy these time-elapsed shots...