World of Comp

Last fall Bennett played on a soccer team with a great coach.  We liked him enough to seriously consider his invitation for B to join a new competitive team.  Our, no my, original instinct was a big, fat NO.  I felt like Benito was too young--that he would burn out sooner than he should, I felt like we as a family weren't ready for that kind of commitment, and I felt like comp soccer was for fanatical parents who don't know when to stop pushing their kids.

Stephen was definitely more open to competitive soccer.  He felt like B had the interest, the talent, the drive to really make it worth it, and I think he recognized the benefits of a more challenging team and league.  Most of the family we consulted on the matter seemed to agree with Stephen: if it's Bennett's passion and he's good at, we should give him a chance. 

We took the plunge.  We had a few unplanned hiccups along the way that resulted in Benito playing on TWO teams this spring, one fledgling comp team that had a very losing season and one regular rec team that had a nearly undefeated season.  He got to experience both sides of the competitive coin, you might say, and we got to experience a whole lot of soccer.  Two games per Saturday, three practices per week, one husband assistant-coaching both teams.  If we could survive this, we could survive anything, right?  And if B not only survived that much soccer but still loved it come June, maybe it'd be a good indicator regarding competitive.

 

 

He did love it.  He still loves it.  He lives for it.  So we as a family are crossing over to the dark side and joining all the other crazy comp clones out there who let their lives revolve around their kid's sport.  Judge us, criticize us, defriend us if needs be, but at least you'll always know where to find us. :)