jeff

If you don’t start kids in sports by 4, they’ll be out of luck at 14. At least that’s the prevalent noise when it comes to kids and sports. We refuse to buy into that so when our 14 y/o started soccer last year we had one message: Go for it, learn, have fun and play the long game. (That may technically be 4 messages, but you get the point: it’s NOT TOO LATE.) You simply cannot be SOL at 14. He endured a brutal rec league season as a newbie goalkeeper among seasoned teammates and invested parents. Some were more generous than others. Many were annoyed and frustrated with him. He heard it on the field; a friend heard our parents trashing him in the stands. (That revelation and ride home was a test of my emotional regulation and communication skills, btw.) Don’t listen to the noise, we said. He persisted. He asked Coach how to improve. His effort stood out. Then came high school tryouts. He’s coming in as a freshman with no seniors rolling off. The noise was loud: you’ve got no shot. He went to every pre-tryout conditioning practice and then Day One Tryouts. It didn’t go well. The noise was louder and more insistent: you’ve got no shot. He didn’t want to return to Day 2. There’s no point, he said. We counter: You let THEM make that decision. He went back. He got cut. He called a rec league teammate who made it to congratulate him. (He’s always been a great teammate.) We were SO proud of him for going the distance. Next year, we said. Then…he got word of a change. Coach invited him to be a part of the team and practice with them. Amazing. Turns out there were kids who made the team and immediately quit - for them it was varsity or bust. (Kids who stuck it out have since been called up to varsity play, btw - so many lessons in there! Coach told him: You will not play in any games. No big deal, regular practice is a great opportunity. We told him to show up to every practice as if he IS playing in every game. He does. He practices at home. A fire has been lit. 🔥 Then…he got word of another change. He’s playing in the next game. And he has since played in 2-3 more. This entire experience has been saturated with life lessons that score wins on and off the field. This all comes back to that noise. Imagine if any of us had listened to it at any point…