We took Ben to his first day of soccer yesterday, and even though he had been excited about it for the last several weeks, constantly telling us how he was going "to kick the ball in the goal, and then get a blue ribbon," after a few minutes of watching the older kids play he went into his Shell of Shyness (this is something like the Fortress of Solitude where Superman goes when he needs to be alone, only not as cool). I think that the real reason for the sudden shyness was that there was a nearby playground with colorful, tempting slides and things, and he much preferred to play on those than run around kicking a ball.
Thankfully, the coach of this whole thing has his head screwed on straight. He gave the parents a lecture before the game to help them understand why the program exists, which is not to spit out the next soccer superstar; the goal of the program is for the kids to come away from it wanting to do more sports. He made it very clear that the parents need to be supportive of the kids, not get down on them, and help them to have fun. If the kid is shy, and doesn't want to play, that's fine; just have him watch. He's had kids come and sit out all six weeks, just observing, and then they return the next season, jump right in, and start playing.
So, following his advice, we didn't push Ben on it. We made a deal that he would sit and watch, and then he could go play on the playground. Even though he didn't pay too much attention, he was very excited to go to Walmart and buy his own soccer ball afterwards, and we'll keep going back every week. It's nice to get out on a Saturday morning in the Spring and go to a park. Maybe Ben will break out of his shell and play this season, and maybe he won't, but at least I hope an interest has been sparked. He and mommy and I kicked his shiny new soccer ball around the backyard later in the afternoon, and I think he had a good time; I know I did.
8:04:54 PM 
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