Nick didn't have the best game in soccer the other day. He didn't seem very aggressive (the good kind) and he seemed a bit, well, bewildered. I asked him about it a couple of days later. He said it was hard to explain. I asked him to try and he sort of whispered: "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing."
Yeah, me neither.
Here is all you need to know, buddy:
I sort of go through life unsure of what I am supposed to be doing. It bothered me when I was little, but, as I got older, I began to understand that a lot of people don't. Some just fake it better than others.
And, some people just don't mind being found out. Like me. When I started staying home with the boys I was LOST and it was obvious, I faked it for a long time and now, I offer advice to others sometimes.
(I found that piece of paper on the floor in the basement. I have no idea what it is about, but, I love that three of the four plays have "me" in them. I think Zack made it, but, clearly, anyone could run these plays.)
From Marci's "... things you don't expect to hear from the backseat ..."
"I am from Saturn. I dance on the rings."
Absolute poetry, I should write so purtily...
We are all clueless. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Juli. Thanks for looking in on us here.
DeleteI have coached my 8 year old since he was 4 and have experienced the same lackluster games/practices. First, weekday games are the worst. Most likely he wasn't as aggressive as he'd like to be because he was tired - nothing you can do there.
ReplyDeleteSecond, put his performance in perspective for him. At the U8 level I wanted my kids to learn the basics of passing. Goals don't matter and dribbling around defenders can be difficult in the swarm. I try to teach fast passing to beat the swarm, which involves very little dribbling. Watch some clips of Barcelona to see what that means. Of course your son's coach may not be doing this but as far as I am concerned a string of 4 passes at this age is better than any goal.
My son was the only player on the team that didn't score a goal all year but the highlight of the season was his brilliant pass that split two defenders and led to a goal. So I guess what I am saying is that a lackluster performance can always be put in perspective and turned into a positive experience.