In the Stands
Volume 20
Jimmy the Soccer Dad
That's right It's Stupendous It's Amazing
It's unbelievable I'm a soccer dad.
My boy James (Jimmy the Kid) just started
his first sport soccer. He is all of four
years old, rough and tumble,
and ready to go. I have to admit I was a
little excited too. His first day of practice
was a couple of weeks ago
(April 8th 05) and I think the best part
for him was just the opportunity to run around
with other kids.
So I asked if I could help and the coach
said yea. I didn't do much I mostly just
helped James with
the drills we were doing. The second practice
when I showed up I was handed a coaches shirt
and that was kind of cool.
The first game was in a week so we practiced
and once again I didn't do much but James
liked having me
around especially since my wife Sally couldn't
make it. As a coach you have a few responsibility's
which
is to prepare the team for each game and
maybe teach a few of life's lessons along
the way.
So now I'm the assistant coach and my first
conflict arises. We practice on Fridays around
6pm and that
Friday was also the first Orioles Yankees
game. I usually make around 15 games a year
but 5 or 6 of them are
Yankee games so I told the coach and he said
go for it. I didn't feel that bad because
I never said I could make all of the practices
from the beginning anyway.
The next day was the first game and James
was pumped. We had to go out and buy him
a soccer
ball and some cleats and at the last practice
he got his Jersey # 18. It's not one of the
top numbers
of all time but it was memorable just the
same. So as we dressed him my wife and I
argued as to
whether his Jersey should be tucked in or
not. I won the argument but she was right.
When we arrived for the game (a few minutes
late) most of the kids had theirs out.
I'm learning!!! James really started getting
excited and he said "This is better
than I expected".
Too cool!!! Then as the coach started getting
them together James started yelling,
"Who wants to win this game"??
I couldn't believe it he was really pumped
and he was trying to pump up his teammates.
He kept yelling it. So the game started and
it was a little funny. 10 kids 4-5 year olds
running
around in a big pack and then smash a collision
and sure enough one of the first injuries
was to James.
He got kicked in the leg and he just came
right off the field. The coaches main job
was to run with
the kids, referee, and tell them what to
do. This is clinic soccer, they don't keep
score, and there is no goal keeping.
My job was bench coach. I had to keep track
of subs so when James came off the field
I had to replace him.
Well he was ready to go back in a few minutes
later but I couldn't send him back in because
it wasn't time for subs yet.
He didn't like that so he cried. Good thing
Mom was there to save the day. Well before
I knew it the game was
over and James had a great day. He had one
assist and he stopped a shot deep in their
end and despite
fact we're not supposed to keep score I
did and they won 2-1. James asked me if they
had won and I said yes. He was happy.
When I considered writing this article I
thought this would be the end of the piece
but a
week later on the day of our next practice
I got a call from the coach. It was 55 degrees,
it was threatening to
mist and the coach said I'm not going out
in this. I couldn't believe it. The threat
of rain continued for the next
day so he said he would call me around 10
am Saturday mourning if they were going to
cancel the game.
So I woke up and the weather was great it
was partly cloudy with a chance of showers
around 60 degrees.
So I was talking to James and the phone
rang, it was coach. He told me that the other
team had canceled
and we would try to play two next week. I
was disappointed. So I suggested we practice
seeing we didn't the day before.
He asked where. I said the field we were
supposed to play on. He said we're not playing,
we're not practicing
and that's the way it's going to be. Now
I was pissed. So suddenly this feel good
story also becomes
a story about parental behavior in youth
sports. You hear about it all the time, parents
getting way
out of hand because their child isn't playing
enough, because the ref makes a bad call
or a multitude
of other reasons, none of them good enough
to justify their actions. So the call between
the
coach and I ended with a simple good bye.
But the fact that I feel he made a bad call
especially
after I heard that 3 of the other 5 teams
played while another showed up with no one
to play has actually
kept me awake at night. That is really weird.
My boy is 4. My blood pressure is great.
I can't wait to
see him in more games, maybe even coach
him one day but I really think I need to
take a step back
and try to keep a perspective of the bigger
picture and try not to get too excited, depressed,
pissed off or delirious at the way things
play out.
Just another day in life of The Man
Jimmy the kids first game