A couple weeks ago, Drew concluded his second summer of tot soccer through the Pekin Park District. He was again on the three- and four-year-old team (the Blue Sharks), and Brad was once again his coach.
I'm not sure if it was because Drew is a year older, or because he's so much more mature now that he has a year of preschool under his belt :) but Drew was head and shoulders above where he was last year, in both skill and attitude. Perhaps more in attitude than in skill, which is totally fine by us! We struggled to get him to actually want to participate last year. He was really iffy about the whole thing, and if it was even the slightest bit sunny or warm outside (which, hello, it's summer...it's gonna be both sunny and warm) he really struggled with wanting to play. Then of course we had the whole soccer-is-a-team-sport-with-only-one-ball-and-it's-perfectly-ok-if-you-never-actually-kick-the-ball situation. Oh yeah, that was fun. BUT Drew did awesome this year. Due to rainy weather, they played indoors a couple times, which helped with the whole shiny, hot sun thing, and I think being one of the older/bigger players on the team also contributed to his willingness to participate. OR it just looked like it because most of his team was more interested in catching bugs or picking their noses than actually playing soccer. Okay, so yeah...maybe Drew just looked good in comparison. :)
Either way, we walked away at the end of his six weeks really, really proud. He still had some *moments*, I assure you, but he really did great. Here's a little peek into the action...
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Drew also participated in t-ball this year, also through the park district. This was his first summer as we didn't sign him up last year because our own summer schedule would have had him missing about half of the sessions. We are so glad he participated this year. Drew even told us, when the "season" was over, that he liked t-ball more than soccer. I think both Brad and I would have to agree with that.
Drew was on the blue team, The Blue Bombers, and Dad was one of his coaches. Brad really enjoys volunteering to be a coach, and I know that Drew, at this point, really enjoys having Brad there. T-ball was fun to watch, as six little teams rotated through stations of hitting, fielding, catching, running, and throwing. Learning the basic fundamentals is obviously essential for such young kids - but they're pretty cute when they squat down to play in the dirt, too. :) T-ball requires a bit more patience as the kids have to sit and wait for their turn more often than in soccer. Drew rocked it out all over the ball field, if I do say so myself. He even gave left-handed hitting a try! (Sidenote: Drew is right-handed, but when he first started batting a couple years ago, he naturally batted left. Not until this year at t-ball did he start grabbing the bat to hit right. Brad had him do both, and is still negotiating which way he'd like to see him go.) :)
Saturday mornings on the ball field looked a bit like this... (click each picture to enlarge)
Drew missed the last day of t-ball as they had to reschedule for a cancelled rain date, and Drew was vacationing at Grammy and Papa's at that time. Rest assured, he did receive his participation medal and his coupon for free cookie dough from Papa Murphy's. :)
I'm really starting to love being the mom of an athlete. It's pretty awesome.
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