Nathan's Spring Soccer...

...started tonight. There isn't a spring team near home, so we need to travel about 35 minutes for this spring program. He is back to playing on a U-12 (12 and under) team. (He played on a 12-15 team in the fall.) We had to laugh when we got there. I know that Nate is a big kid, but he looks like a GIANT on this team. The next tallest kid comes to, maybe, Nate's chin. The coach is only about 2 inches taller than he is. Two different mom's asked me just how old he was...and when did he TURN 12?

Thankfully, this soccer organization seems to focus a lot on footwork and soccer fundamentals. Nate has been able to skate by on his size for a long time, so I am thrilled that he will have to focus on some of the basics. I can see this really helping him long term. I do wonder if he should have to move up to the next age group, but Gary assures me that this will only help Nathan's confidence in his ability to play. Okay...

Did I mention he looks like a GIANT on the team! They were doing a little drill in a small box formation at one point. I told Gary that it wasn't fair. It was like putting a shark in a goldfish bowl! It might have taken Nate 10 steps to get from one line to the other. It was a funny to watch.

Even funnier was when he "challenged" a kid for the ball. They both ran towards it, and bumped shoulders. Well, I say bumped, but the other kid looked like he hit a wall! He fell like a ton of bricks and Nate kept running almost as if nothing had touched him. He didn't even break stride! Bless Nate's heart, he stopped, turned, ran back over and helped the poor kid up...apologizing the whole time! The first words to me after practice were,

"Mom, I'm really gonna hurt someone! I barley touched that kid!"

It'll be an interesting season.