the world calls it "football"
worldcup06_us
Originally uploaded by Antof9. Today's "holiday" Google makes me smile :)
And because I'm feeling soccer-y, I'm remembering my Saturdays as a girl, in Colorado Springs. Which makes me partially rant-y and partially reminiscent.
Competitive sports for kids in America today seem to fall into two categories (from my perspective, anyway):
1. the über-competitive
2. the touchy-feely
Neither of these seems healthy or helpful -- in #1, we have things like high-school (American) football in Texas, where it's a religion, fathers push their sons like crazy, kids are held back or advanced in school for the sake of their football careers, etc. It's nuts! In #2, no one's feelings get hurt, they don't keep score, and everyone is a winner. I'm not sure they even learn the actual rules of whatever game they're playing -- maybe they should just stand in a circle and sing kumbayah, and then they don't have to spend any money on uniforms, baseball diamonds, soccer goals, or knee pads.
Back in the day, my brothers played soccer. And my dad (the Dutchman) coached soccer. They actually played the game, and played it hard. The coaches were allowed to yell at the kids (when necessary), the kids learned how to play, how to function as a team, how to deal with disappointment, and the thrill of doing something well.
Because my father never wanted to be accused of favoring one of his sons, he coached one team, brother #1 played on a different team, and brother #2 at three years younger played on a third team. Thus, a majority of my Saturdays have been spent playing Barbies with other little sisters next to three different soccer games. My favorite was when the ball was kicked out of bounds, and we'd all run after it. I was always faster than the other little sisters, and got to the ball first every time. Exhilarating!
And there were always oranges cut into quarters for halftime.