9/22/2007

How the mighty fall













Today I finally made it to a soccer game of Ethan's, the season being almost half over already. This fall, Ethan has moved up to the next age level, making him one of the younger players in the league. He plays well and keeps up with his peers but is no longer the shining star of last season with six or more goals a game.

I know it's a good thing for him to be challenged this way but at the same time it's sad to see him lose his aggressive edge, whether because of intimidation or general demoralization. He seems to have lost some of his focus and hangs back from the action.

He still enjoys the sport and it's good for him to learn to persevere. Hopefully he can maintain his interest in spite of tough going.

3 comments:

Claire said...

Poor li'l Ethan - it's no fun to suddenly be a small frog in a big pond as opposed to vice versa.

Anonymous said...

don't loose heart all young soccer players suffer this way if given enough time he will bounce back

Patrick Randall said...

Just wait until he's too old to play recreational soccer at all. All I have left is imagining what it would be like to go back to kiddie soccer, as an adult, and take on an entire team. I would wade through their 5-year old bodies, scattering them left and right, on my way to the goal.