Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Starting Soccer

Soccer is awesome.

We missed Nolan's first soccer practice because we returned late from his ophthalmologist appointment. He was rather upset about this, but cheered up considerably on Saturday: he would get to play soccer at last!

We was even more ecstatic when he received a jersey. The Under-4 league has jerseys already, and the Under-6 league does not - this meant that he constantly told Matt: "look at my shirt, Matt. I have a soccer shirt! You don't have a soccer shirt!" This began to wear on Matthew after a while (he should get his uniform by the end of this month).

I brought the FM system to the field with Nolan. I hadn't indicated any "special needs" on his soccer enrollment form - so it was probably a bit of a surprise to his coach. To be honest, I had simply forgotten to write it down. We're so used to his hearing aids, that we don't think about it much. I stuck the mic on her shirt with a brief "don't worry, he does just fine" and walked away.

And Nolan did great. He ran with the ball, he listened to the instructions, and he played the games. He was slower than a lot of the other kids (he's never going to catch the other preschoolers in duck-duck-goose), but that is mostly because he is smaller than most of the other kids. Those short little legs have to work harder to keep up!

Nolan: the little guy on the left.

He is extremely excited to play the rest of the season. He wouldn't take his shirt off when we got home, and was very proud of being "Number Seven." Soccer makes him happy, and that makes me happy.

4 comments:

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Hurray for soccer! My boys love it too, though we won't be playing this fall :(

I can't imagine how your insurance could justify turning you down (post below) with the documentation you have. I guess you just have to jump through all the hoops.

Happy summer!

Julie

xraevision said...

Leah, I am SO far behind in reading (and yours is one of the few blogs I follow devoutly). I did have a glimpse at the roller coaster photo, and it reminded me that I must find an age appropriate wild ride to put X on this summer. He is such a risk taker and thrill seeker, unlike his mother.

Great that Nolan does well in soccer. I'm getting frustrated trying to find extracurricular activities for X. He's at an age where programs require him to participate without me, but his language skills are so delayed that he just gets lost.

But never mind that. Did I read your comment on Jess's blog that you're coming to Toronto?!! Are you serious? (Because sometimes people joke about visiting Canada.) We live 90 minutes on your side of Toronto. Moreover, we are considering taking X to Niagara Falls for a couple of days this summer. How close is that to you?!! (We require passports to enter the US and we have fairly fresh ones from our trip to JTC.) I know this seems a bit weird and stalkerish and maybe coming out of nowhere, but maybe someday we can connect in real life!

Sorry, my comment is almost longer than your post, but I got excited:-)

leah said...

Cool! We are really close to you guys - just 90 minutes in the opposite direction from Niagara Falls. We haven't been to Toronto yet because my passport has expired and the boys don't have one. We really need to get them, though - I've heard the Toronto Zoo is amazing!

We were worried about soccer. Nolan's language skills are great, but his hearing over distance is terrible. The FM system makes all the difference in the world for him. It belongs to the school, though, so we need to figure out a way to purchase it on our own.

I've heard that Martin's Fantasy Island has a good kid's area (on Grand Island near Niagara Falls). I haven't been there, but my friend said they have a nice kid's section with mild thrill rides. I declare a play date! :-D

tammy said...

We love soccer too. Kailyn just started again after taking a few years off and I'm hoping Aiden can start this fall. So fun! and how cute Nolan looks in his jersey!