Kid Sports: TaeKwonDo

We have felt a lot of pressure over the last year to sign Jack up for various sports. And he typically is aware of what sports are going on... I guess it is something they discuss on the playground at preschool?

Daniel and I both want him to play sports, even though we don't care about sports now, we both grew up playing team sports and feel like those experiences had positive impacts on our lives. But now... As a parent... It feels different. There's more pressure. Even at a young age. Like you are supposed to fine the thing that will define you and then work to excel at that. At age five.

Sports take up precious family time on the weekend, too. So we go back and forth, and then suck it up and sign Jack up for the sport of the season.

He had asked about Taekwondo, so we signed up, not knowing it was a commitment of two nights a week. We wish it was one night for an hour instead of split into two 30-minute sessions, but we don't get to pick. It's also expensive. But. It turns out that Jack really loves it. And he's pretty good at it too.

It's the first sport/activity that he has shown serious interest in and tried hard to master (when he's not telling the teacher that he already knows how to do everything).

At his first test (I wasn't able to go), he surprised Daniel and the teacher by breaking his first board on the first try. He really does love Taekwondo, and I can see him continuing with it.

Isaac also enjoys going to watch class/standing in the back and trying to do the moves too.

Our house policy is one sport at a time, so Jack will have to sacrifice Taekwondo in the future if he wants to do anything else.

We will just have to see how it shakes out. Mostly, we just want him to have fun, make friends, and love what he is doing... while also learning to be disciplined in the sport.

Kid's Sports: U6 Soccer

Jack wrapped up soccer the week before Thanksgiving. His team was The Hulks (green shirts) and games were every Saturday morning (yay for no mid-week practices!). He was number 4, just like in T Ball. Now I think that he believes that "4" is his own personal number.

This was Jack's third sport to try (we've done gymnastics and T ball). As parents, I have to say that soccer is probably a favorite sport for both Daniel and I. We are by no means sports fanatics, but we both have played soccer and it's a fun sport to watch little kids learn.

Jack was four when the season started and he is not exactly on track to be a soccer star. I think he likes the camaraderie that sports provide, but in terms of actually playing, he tends to hold back.

Soccer is kind of a confusing game for young children because they have spent their whole lives learning how to share, and then the game of soccer turns that teaching upside down and encourages them to be aggressive and take the ball away from other people.

A few games in, we noticed that Jack would hang back and wait for the ball to come back down the field. That eventually morphed into playing goalie (under 6 does not have goalies). We asked him why he was staying in the goal, and he said it was his favorite place because he didn't have to run as much! Ha!

Also when asked what he liked best about soccer, he said, "The snacks and giving high fives at the end of the game." He had a similar response to T Ball.

We will keep trying soccer, but this season was definitely more of an introduction for him and us. Our coaches weren't super concerned about teaching skills, it was more of a free-for-all every Saturday morning. The kids wore themselves out and we had the opportunity to get to know other parents better.

Sports definitely take a lot of time out of each week, and with a preschooler we are just dipping our toes in the pool at this point.

If Jack finds a sport he adores, we will encourage and support him. For now we are still figuring out what he likes, and sticking with one activity per season.

While Jack might not be super into soccer (yet), his little brother sure is. Every Saturday Isaac would find a ball and dribble it around while we chased him.

We ended the season on a chilly Saturday morning.

After the final game, the kids all received a soccer key chain for participation, and then we went to Dunkin Donuts to celebrate.

Peewee Flag Football Champs, 2017

If you know Daniel and I, you know that we are not sports fanatics. Not by a long shot.

Last fall as we made the weekly drive out to the soccer fields every Saturday morning, Jack would always comment about how he really wanted to play flag football. Daniel and I weren't so sure.

He would bring it up periodically, but we didn't really know how serious he was. 

Our parenting style is to try to say yes as much as possible, within reason, and our current stance is one sport or extra-curricular activity each week. At the time that football season rolled around, he was already doing Taekwondo .

He kept persisting, so we told him he had to make a decision: stick with Taekwondo (which he really enjoys), do fall soccer again, or sign up for flag football. He picked football.

Then we kind of forgot about it and a couple of days before signups, Jack reminded us that he wanted to play. So we signed him up.

Where we live (maybe in other places too?), flag football is split up into kindergarten-first grade, second-third grade, and fourth-fifth grade leagues. This allows the younger (and smaller kids) to get experience playing with kids who already know what they are doing.

Jack was definitely one of the smallest and youngest on his team, but it ended up being a great learning experience.

Our coaches were really amazing. They put a focus on fundamentals and had all the kids learn all of the positions. 

In games the more experienced kids got more time on the field, but every kid go a chance to play offense and defense, and every kid had a chance to run the ball – even Jack who ran the wrong way down the field (more than once!).

Like I said, it was a good learning experience!

Our coaches were also really good about encouraging the team after each practice and game. They would have the kids share what they thought that other kids did well, and then they would also point out good stuff. This was a great motivator for Jack.

Jack’s flag football team ended up being undefeated in the regular season and went on to win the championship game. After the last game of the season, the coach had the team sing Happy Birthday to Jack since it was his birthday, I'm not sure what Jack thought about that, but it was really sweet.

The final game in this league was a really big deal – they play on a field at a private high school with announcers calling the game from the box. The team was announced and each kid got to run out on the field and then through a sign, just like the big kids do!

At the award ceremony, we learned that one of our coaches was the coach of all three age groups, and all three of his teams won the championship games (our other coach helped co-coach two of those three teams).

Jack really enjoyed being a part of flag football this season – his favorite thing was playing Sharks and Minnows at the end of each practice. And getting a trophy for first place. He is thrilled that it was the biggest trophy and "gold." We may have to work on his humility!

My favorite thing about flag football is that every kid learned each position and had plenty of opportunities to play. I didn't think I would enjoy flag football (they had to practice 1-2 times each week and games were on Saturdays), but it is one of my favorite peewee sports, so far.

We are so proud of Jack's team and their coaches. They had a fantastic season and finished strong as the undefeated K1 Champs of the 2017 season. We are so thankful for the new friends he has made and all that he learned during this season. He is looking forward to playing again next fall. Go Scots!

Sports Jack has Tried: 

T Ball, Gymnastics, U6 Soccer,  Taekwondo