The class was specked for 2-3 year olds and since our guys were going to turn two during the sessions, they were allowed to join. We worried that Brady and Brody would be a bit young for this kind of class, but since the class required that each child have an accompanying parent, we figured we would be ok.
I can't wax poetic on how great the first class was because, in actual fact, it was rough! We showed up to a field (that was only 1.5 miles from the house, I loved that part) that had about 10 other kids, most of them closer to 3 years old, plus at least 10 or more parents and two coaches. There were flags and goals set up and soccer balls everywhere. The flags had huge sharp spikes on one end and all the boys wanted to do was pull the flags out of the ground and play with the spike. They wanted to pick up every ball they saw and tried to hold as many as they could. They ran ALL over the huge field with no care for what instructions were given or what task they were supposed to be completing. Because there were so many kids, they were constantly stealing someone's ball or running into parents' legs. Many of the tasks required the boys to know their colors solidly enough that they could follow directions like "run to the green flag". At 22 months, my guys were not quite there yet. And, as if all those things were not hard enough, the field abutted a sleeping construction site that had diggers, cranes, cement mixers and dump trucks all parked in clear view that kept drawing the boys attention. Despite all the challenges, the boys did learn two important lessons during class 1. They learned "No hands" (where they put their hands up like stop signs and say no hands) and "soccer stance" (where they stand with one foot on the ball and on foot on the ground in a circle to listen to coaches instructions). To me, the 30 minute class felt like it lasted 2 hours. Chris and I looked at each other afterwards, slightly deflated, and gave a solid single nod that collectively meant "this class is only 5 weeks long, we can manage".
I was kind of dreading the second class but it ended up being great fun! On the night of class two, we had rain in Silicon Valley, a rare occurrence that tends to throw everything off. I expected class to be canceled, but it wasn't and since rain does not deter us from doing outdoor things, the boys and I suited up and we went. Only one other family showed up so it was just three little boys, two parents, and two coaches. The boys got lots of individual attention from the coaches and the class flew by! Unfortunately the rain really messed with traffic and Chris was stuck in gridlock for the 6 mile drive from work to soccer practice so he missed the whole thing. Unrelated to the funness of the class, I think I won major street credit from the coaches because I walked onto the field holding both boys on my hips, all three of us dressed for outdoor rain play. They knew we meant business.
Over the next few weeks, class continued to be more and more fun and [surprisingly] the boys actually improved! The urge to pick up the ball with their hands faded pretty quickly. They stopped trying to crawl into the goal and they were able to do tasks like "run to the purple flag" without needing me to help further define the objective. Some of the drills were especially fun. They loved the one where they had to dribble the ball up to a cone, take three steps back, and then kick the ball so it knocked over the cone. We have already recreated that one in the back yard. It seemed that as the weather got colder there were less and less kids in the class helping the boys to focus a little better during the instructions. Last night was the last class and we are having a "cold" snap in SV. We walked up to the field at 5:45 right as the class was supposed to start. No one else was there yet and the coaches looked at us and cheered that we made it. They both said versions of "We knew the twins would be here, they are super tough." and I felt so proud that we had created that image. If they only knew the craziness that occurs behind the scenes before we get to class.
All in all, it was a really fun session and we will likely sign up for soccer again soon!
This little montage really says everything about toddler soccer! One of the boys (he shall remain nameless) approaches the ball as if to kick it, bends down to pick it up, and tosses it in the goal. Score!
Loved hearing about your soccer adventures! Brought me back to last year at this time when we had Hunter try soccer class for the first time. Although a year older than the boys when he started, he was the youngest in class. It felt like the kids were a bunch a cats on the field that the coach was trying to herd. Very comical indeed. Anyway, good for you for braving the rain and cold….you are no strangers to braving all sorts of weather having lived in NY and MA, that's for sure!
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