Super Star Soccer Player!

There is this amazingly smart and beautiful little girl named Calli. She loves to wear dresses, play with her dolls and go to dance class. Oh yeah, and she is the best three-year-old soccer player on the planet!

I may be exaggerating a bit because, after all, I am her mother! But I am truly amazed at how much skill she posesses at such a young age. She played her first season for the YMCA in the fall, when she was about three and a quarter years old. It took her a few games to get into it, but by the last one she had scored her first goal (two in fact!) and really seemed to love playing. We signed her up for the next session this spring and I couldn't wait to see how much she would improve again. She picked up right where she left off and each game surprises us with her talent at the game of soccer. Her game last Saturday was no exception: it was her best game to date! It was an 11am start time and it was getting very hot out. When that happens, most of the girls end up dropping out and not wanting to play by about halftime. They divide the games into four six minute quarters with a longer break at the half. Calli was in the starting five out on the field and she immediately went to work. Four times the other team had the ball to kick off and four times in a row Calli stole it from them and took it down to score. The first quarter ended soon after and I offered to hold Calli out the next quarter to give some of the other little girls a chance to touch the ball. Calli was disappointed, but I also knew that most of the girls were going to drop before the game's end and Calli would still be wanting to play. So it really seemed only fair to give them a chance to play in the beginning. I asked Calli if she was going to score four more goals and she told me "no Mom, I'm going to score five!" I think Calli got three more goals in the third quarter and by the fourth quarter it was just her and one other girl on her team out there playing and she got her final two goals for a total of TEN. There are times she would go track down the opposing player heading to score a goal, steal the ball and dribble it the whole field length to score. Richard says she dribbles better than he can! Needless to say, at the end of the game she was pretty happy with herself and we were very proud of her. We had quite a few parents come up and tell us how they were blown away that she was so good and the other coach even went up to her and gave her a special high-five.

Yes I know I'm bragging. I know there are more important things in life and I know that just because she plays well now does not mean it's something she will continue for the rest of her life. But in this moment, just for now, I am going to enjoy it. I am going to revel in the fact that my daughter is a super star soccer stud. I am going to brag that she is the best player on her team (on any team!). I am going to repeat that SHE SCORED TEN GOALS IN ONE GAME. And I am going to continue to watch her dominate the game as long as she will let me.

I was lucky enough to stumble across a soccer camp nearby our house this summer. It is in July, an hour and a half a day for a week. She'll go play soccer with other four- and five- year-olds in the morning, as well as get a free t-shirt, a free jersey and a free soccer ball out of it! This will be her very first soccer camp and I could not be more excited. I used to go to a lot of soccer camps when I was a child. I always hated them, BUT I was a very different kid than Calli. Calli is outgoing and friendly, where I was shy and reserved, scared to make friends. I know she will have a blast and if she doesn't then she never has to go to another one!! She'll also be playing in the summer soccer league at the YMCA, which I am starting to think might be a teeny tiny mistake. I know she'll have fun, but it is already so dang hot that I am wondering if it'll be okay. I know she will have fun, but I am also worried about us sitting on the sidelines with Serena and the new baby (not to mention me, I hate the heat!!). I couldn't not sign her up though; if there is soccer to be played, I want her to play it and I know that she loves it and wants to play too. Besides that, Grandma Keri will get to be here for her very first game of that season in late June so that will be special.

Anyhow, here is Calli's soccer team this year.