Soccer Camp

In the spring, when I was super-emotional about moving, one of the things that I feared was a looong HOT summer in a new area with few friends close by and nothing to do.  Yes, we have a pool, but one can only swim so many hours of the day.  So I started planning and researching and scheduling to find things for us - which mostly means Sam - to do.  We invited friends "out" to the new house to play, we attended an early summer bible study, swim lessons, and of course there were the trips.  And Sam went to soccer camp!

Having very little exposure to the concept of camp, Sam really thought he might be sleeping there.  Even after I explained that the little kids only go for 1.5 hours a day, when we arrived he asked where the big kids sleep at the camp.  Insert explanation of week-long, activity-related summer "day camps" here.

Yes, so my friend mentioned a soccer camp back at our old gym, I googled it and found that there was a location in Katy.  And it was $15 cheaper than the in-town camp!  Signed him up.

He was very excited and he really did have a very good time each day.  Of course Mommy and Annabelle, who thought they'd be dropping him off each day, were a little too hot on the sidelines, but I enjoyed watching him, too.  The camp was sponsored by a league in Katy and run by a British-based company, so all the coaches had fun accents.

Sam's coach was great with the 4-5 year olds.  She had a nice balance of gentleness and get-over-yourself-ness that is totally appropriate for the crowd transitioning from preschool to elementary school.  He was one of the youngest ones in his group, but he held his own pretty well.  And he didn't cry when someone kicked his ball away, and yes that happened a lot.  To be fair - he did cry when they tried to switch hi to the other coach's group, so they let him stay.  I was embarrassed, but by Friday, actually really glad he did it.  The other coach was NOT good with that age group - Sam could sense it!

They play fun drills that involved surfing, superheros, monsters and sharks.  They play quick one-on-one battles and worked up to two-on-two.  Sam looked good in his individual skill work, but will need some guidance to really go after it in a game setting.  And he'll need improved focus, but that is true in EVERY aspect of his life right now.

As part of the registration fee each kid received a jersey and a ball.  The coaches wrote names on all of the identical balls first thing.  And then 30% of day 1 was spent listening to "she has my ball!" and "which one is mine!"  I told Sam on morning 2 that it didn't matter whose ball he used, just use one and we'll make sure we go home with yours at the end.  He was fine with that, others still struggled.  So Tuesday night we were given instructions to decorate the balls - no 2 alike!  Problem solved.

At the end of it all he got a certificate and a t-shirt and got right in the mix with all the big kids and teens at the closing ceremony.

And now he is registered for a soccer team this fall.  Organized sports, here we come!