Nathan and Lorelai's Excellent (Soccer) Adventures

 Both Lorelai and Nathan have been quite busy with soccer since January. Lorelai's played two seasons straight, and Daddy's been the head coach. This Saturday, the Spring season finally came to an end, and we're taking a soccer break...at least for a little while.

Lorelai's winter season team photo

As I've mentioned previously, Nate became a soccer coach pretty much by accident. He'd only signed on to be an assistant coach, mostly because he welcomed the opportunity to bond with Lorelai and help out the head coach. Then, unexpectedly, the head coach contacted him two weeks into the Winter 2012 season and said she couldn't coach the team any more, for personal reasons. Thus, without having ever played soccer before, let alone coached the game, Nathan found himself trying to lead a group of kids to victory every Saturday.

There was a steep learning curve, and Nathan was intimidated, but he was determined to do well by the kids. He read online coaching manuals. He bought a set of scrimmage jerseys. He researched age-appropriate skill drills. Most importantly, he tried to get the kids running, kicking, and generally enjoying themselves. He encouraged the kids to laugh, have fun, work together, and get fit. In other words, he did basically what a coach of five-to-seven-year-olds in a non-competitive league should do.

The Winter season was challenging. Nathan felt overwhelmed at times, as his team lost just about every game 7-0 or so. The kids would kick the ball away, then stand and watch it go. They wouldn't pass to their teammates. And most of the goalies were afraid to use their hands...hence the high "goals against" total.

One exception to this was Lorelai, who became a halfway decent goalie over the last few months. She still struggles with dribbling the ball, and with follow-through; she seems intimidated moving the ball downfield. However, she has no such compunctions about pouncing on a ball as it approaches the goal. She doesn't have a perfect save record, but she proved to be a bright spot on a team that struggled to cohere. Lorelai is a surprisingly competitive person; she took each loss very hard (after one game, I had to carry her to the car as she sobbed uncontrollably).

By the end of that season (the team ultimately won a whopping one game), Nathan still enjoyed working with the kids, but felt discouraged and wondered if continuing on was worth it. However, Lorelai's good friend Clark and his brother, Parker, were going to continue playing into the Spring 2012 season. They (and Clark's persuasive mom) convinced Lorelai to play again. Despite her dislike of losing, Lorelai still loved to play the sport with her friends. And Nathan decided that if Lorelai was playing again, he might as well coach again.

The Spring team--other than Lorelai, Clark, and Parker--was full of new faces. Instead of being a 50/50 team of boys/girls, this new team consisted of mostly boys (there were only two other girls besides Lorelai). And this team was much bigger than the last team--12 kids, unusually large for this league. Right from the start, though, Nathan recognized a lot of raw talent and potential in these kids. 

Lorelai's Spring team photo--what a cute gal!

The kids liked Lorelai's suggestion for the team name, and thus they were christened the Angry Birds, after the popular computer game. The team won most of their games, and tied a few others. It was psychologically completely different than the previous season. One particularly talented boy scored a majority of the team's goals (his parents insisted that he'd never played before); however, there was much more teamwork involved.

People passed to each other! Players hung back on defense and protected the goal! Goalies used their hands! Kids kept the ball inbounds, while simultaneously managing to move it down the field! There was great rejoicing! Nathan knew that their winning wasn't totally his doing, but he was definitely feeling more confident as a coach, and was gratified that the kids listened to him and followed his lead.

The only real drawback to the season had nothing to do with the quality of play...and everything to do with Arizona and its crazy-hot summers. The last few games of the season were sweaty, unenthusiastic affairs; it was not uncommon for games to be called on account of kids just not showing up. The final game of the season (played today) only lasted three quarters (Angry Birds won 4-1, remaining undefeated!); all the players amicably called it quits and ran for their snacks. Despite missing half our players, the team did well; in fact, two different kids scored their first goals of the season, including Lorelai's friend Clark!

Shortly afterwards, about one-third of our team and their families (the only ones who hadn't already left for summer vacation) met at a nearby Peter Piper Pizza's to celebrate the season's end:

 Lorelai got her trophy, of course; she may never be a star soccer player (in fact, I can almost guarantee she won't be), but she has had lots of fun and had a good time bonding with her dad. She's had her moments to shine; at one point today, she actually broke free of the crowd and started moving the ball upfield. She didn't quite make it all the way, but it was more aggressive than I've ever seen her. She has improved, even if only a little bit, and I am glad Coach Nathan has been able to help her even in these small aspects.

Then, to our surprise, Nathan received some prizes of his own; an Angry Birds T-shirt, as well as a gift certificate to the nearest movie theater! It was completely unexpected and very touching. Last week, Nathan had received a framed photo of the team from another one of his players (who'd hand-made him a card and hand-made the picture frame!). All these things have caused him to re-think his future with soccer.

We (mostly I) assumed he'd be done with soccer after this season (we're still not sure if Lorelai will resume playing in the fall or not). After seeing how much his kids appreciate him, though, Nathan is thinking of returning in the Fall season to give this coaching thing another try. Who knows? Maybe we haven't seen the last of "Coach Nathan" after all. It's been a time-consuming experience, but something he's really enjoyed. Here's hoping that enjoyment continues.