Never A Soccer Mom

So I never expected to be a Soccer Mom. Maybe a Basketball Mom since basketball was huge in my family but never a Soccer Mom.

Flash forward to today. I have the chair, the one with the sun shade on it. I bring snacks for the team when it is my turn. I cheer so loud for my kids that the lady near me says, “Oh, I remember you. You are the parents who yell loudly.” She isn’t wrong.

My Short Athletic Career

I am not athletically inclined unless you count my gymnastics years. I once did 153 cartwheels in a row in a cartwheel-a-thon and angered the people who pledged between 5 cents and 10 cents a cartwheel. They ended up paying a lot more than they expected and weren’t afraid to share that fun fact with me as I went door to door collecting money. I did win a beautiful blue ten speed bike though so it was worth it!

My brief athletic career continued when I played basketball my sophomore year in high school. I tried out because I knew how much my dad loved the game. Let’s just say, the one basket I actually made ended with me clapping and cheering for myself on the court. People were screaming at me to keep playing because I forgot that the game didn’t come to a dead stop when I finally made a basket.

Rock Star

So, of course, given all of my athletic ability, I have a seven year daughter that loves to play soccer. She is a fierce competitor who often plays goalie but has a signature move where she takes the ball all the way down the field.

She lights up as we lace up her cleats. She hears the screaming fans and it energizes her. Her coaches are nothing but encouraging and she feels like a rock star on the field. She feels like she can do anything because nobody is telling her any different. Isn’t this what sports at this age should really be about?

I’m Your Biggest Fan

Encouraging our kids sets a tone for how they feel about themselves now and later. This morning, a little girl who couldn’t have been more than five years old, was on the field playing against my daughter’s team. In the middle of the game, she looked at her dad on the sideline and asked him, “Do you believe in me?” He looked at her right in the eye and said, “I’m your biggest fan.”

She was beaming. I was crying. It was such a gift to witness this special moment in the middle of the game. It reminded me again that we need to be our children’s biggest fans in sports and in life.

Soccer Mom

Yep…so I am a soccer mom.  And I LOVE it!