What have I gotten myself into?

Soccer. I thought I was just signing up my eldest for a sport, I didn't realize that I was signing our family up for a new lifestyle.

I previously worried that my darling daughter would feel left out because all the other kids on the team already knew each other. Now I fear that my child might become one of them. Not that they don't seem like nice girls, it is just that the other girls seem like soccer players. Not girls who play soccer. Soccer players that happen to be girls. Their moms looked like they could personally take the field at any moment. The older sisters and brothers hanging around the field were clearly also soccer players.

And the coach...

The first game the girls played in this spring league they beat the other team 13 to 1. One of the league officials visited the coach to make sure he knew that "this wasn't the kind of a league where we run up the score on the opposite team". Our coach told the official that it wasn't his girls scoring, it was the other team knocking the ball into their own goal. Funny, but not truthful. Nor did the coach ever suggest to our girls that they should let up a little.

The coach also let me know that the girls on his team play together year round...Spring league, Summer league, Fall league and apparently 2 Winter indoor leagues where they play "up" against the older kids.

I just wanted to sign my daughter up for a sport. I didn't want to commit to a lifetime. I thought "maybe if it goes well she can play in the fall too". Arena indoor soccer against the big kids never crossed my mind.

There is something entirely seductive, though, about putting her on a team that is clearly going to win, win, win. She will excel at soccer if she stays on this team. The coach accepts nothing less (and it appears already that this talent may be within her...thinks her mom who is clearly biased). But will she know that winning at soccer isn't everything? This coach has taught the other girls to have GAME and they seem to really enjoy playing for him. Will it be the right experience for my sweet girl?

Oh, and one more thing...
I think "Coach" on Survivor is so icky that he might be putting a bad taste in my mouth about the entire game of soccer. So icky.

Let's get ready to rrruuuummmmmbbbbblllllllleeeeee!

Next Monday, our eldest daughter starts soccer. This is our first foray into organized sports. My husband grew up in organized sports and considers it an important part of childhood. I did not. My mother didn't like to be outdoors, so she signed us up for bowling and 4H. Yeah, I was that cool.

We found out that our daughter will be on a team of girls where most of the girls are 1 - 2 years older than her and have been playing together for awhile. Hubby said the coach was of European descent. The image of Nadia Comaneci's coach comes to mind, but I haven't met the guy yet. We're hoping this is a nice, friendly, non-competitive league but fear that we're signing her up for the junior Olympics. Hopefully I'll meet the coach and other parents on Monday and feel totally at ease at the laid-back nature of the team.

We bought her clothes today. Under Armour style shirt, soccer shorts, cleats, soccer socks and shin guards. I'm assuming that we'll need more than one set of clothes, but the original set cost enough that I wasn't inclinded to buy two at that moment. Here she is all decked out.



It is still really cold outside. I wonder if she also wears a jacket while she runs around at practice. Do the other kids wear clothes under or on top of their soccer clothes? Would a better mom already know the answer to those questions? I don't want her to look like a dork. I think there is already a small twinge of fear that all the other kids will already know each other and that she'll feel left out. But, you don't get anywhere in life by being afraid to put yourself into new situations. So off to soccer practice we will go.

Anybody got any soccer advice for me?