Soccer

Josh had his first soccer practice and his first soccer game ever today. I don't know what I really expected. We decided to place him in a regular league instead of a league for kids with special needs. We figured we'd give it a try and see how it went. So here's a brief overview in photos.

We got to the soccer fields nice and early. It was a beautiful day and I loved seeing so many families with kids ready for a fun morning. It reminded me of Saturdays when I was younger and it seemed like everyone in my town of Walnut was up at the soccer fields. You really felt like you were part of your community. Now that I have kids of my own, I want that for my family. Here's a shot of some of the people out playing today. Notice the poor team that got stuck with pink t-shirts. They were a coed team too.


Josh started the day raring to go. Here he is getting properly hydrated. He got to use Daddy's water bottle and he was especially psyched about this.


I thought his tiny little shin guards and cleats were the cutest little things ever. He and Daddy went to pick those out together at the soccer store.


Josh got his "indigo blue" team jersey and remained completely infatuated with his water bottle. Notice the man hiking up his pants in the background. I really should have cropped these pictures. Oh well.


Like I said, Josh started out the day excited. He was running around and kicking the new soccer ball that had been provided to him. Unfortunately practice had not started yet and he was rapidly expending precious energy. Here's my tired little man starting to slow down. Notice how ginormus his team shirt is.


Still, Daddy got him to line up for a little Red Light/Green Light with his team. Around this time he started to space out. He didn't want to pay attention to his coaches anymore. He was totally uninterested in his soccer ball and instead became fascinated with Jane's stroller. He kept climbing in and out of it.


I tried taking Jane for a walk just as the first game was starting so Josh wouldn't be distracted. A few moments later, Josh had a total meltdown. He was crying and yelling and people were starting to stare. Jason and I were beginning to think we had done the wrong thing in signing Josh up for soccer and were getting ready to go home. I was holding Josh trying to get him to calm down before we left. Trying to understand him through his tears, I realized he was saying he wanted to play with his friends. So we decided to try and get him in the game for a few minutes. Here he is lined up with his teammates for the kickoff, still looking a little spaced out but not crying anymore. When he did play he just followed the other kids around. He seemed to lack the "killer instinct" to push kids out of the way and get the ball. That's probably a good thing. I just wish it applied to his little sister.


He played a few more times in this game and a few times in the next game. I'm not sure if he actually kicked the ball but he was getting used to the game. The wonderful thing was that his coaches didn't care about winning or losing, they just wanted the kids to get in the game and have fun. We hadn't told anyone about Josh's autism because we weren't sure it would be necessary. At the end of the second game I decided to tell one of the coaches and her response was so encouraging and warm. She didn't see it as a problem at all and just wanted Josh to be a part of things. I felt so grateful. I wish everyone could respond in this way to kids with special needs. The world would be a much friendlier, more loving place.

All in all we think Josh had an okay time. After a little relaxing in Jane's stroller and a freezer pop after the game, he was quite content. And Jason and I feel brave enough to try again next Saturday.