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Ever since Bailey could sit on her own, she was fascinated with balls – soccer balls, baseballs, basketballs, footballs, bouncy, etc. She loves to throw, kick, bounce and toss them all around the house and has gotten really good at throwing and kicking. Brian and I played sports growing up and we knew we wanted to pass down our love of playing sports to our kids at an early age.
I will not shy away from my soccer mom status – though don’t expect me to be sitting on the sidelines scrolling through my phone…I want to get in and play too! We aren’t trying to relive our glory days and we certainly don’t want to be “those parents” – the angry ones you see getting into fights or aggressively yelling all over YouTube. We want our girls to do well, but we want them to enjoy the game as much as we did.
Putting little kids into sports can be a gamble. They can love it or hate it depending on their mood for the day, but as long as you let them lead the way and don’t force it, sports can be a great learning experience and fun for the whole family. I’ve had several people tell me they think 3 year olds are too young for sports, but here are a few reasons why we chose to start early:
Exercise
We want our girls growing up thinking exercise is fun and not just a chore. Getting outside play in everyday is important to us, even in the heat. We like that all the running in soccer burns off excess energy that we have and find that the girls are in much better moods afterwards. Right now Mom and Dad are also running around on the field too, so the whole family is involved – if you’re more of a spectator, you may want to wait until they are out of the Mini-Me stage.
Listening
When you put children in sports at an early age, they learn a lot about themselves, but one of the most important things they learn is how to listen to someone besides their parents. We’ve been struggling with listening to Mom and Dad these past few weeks but when she’s on the field, she pays attention to her coaches. We are fortunate to have a great team of coaches working with the kids and Bailey has been very good at listening to all of them. Now, if only those skills came home with us…
Teamwork
Sports are all about teamwork and playing as part of a group. At this young age, the kids aren’t really working together, more alongside, but they still huddle at the end and cheer together. They learn to wait their turn in line, share the field with others and how to watch and be supportive of others their age. Plus, you may meet someone with the same pair of shoes on and you become BFFs for life (or until the end of practice).
Practice
Sports aren’t easy and if they were, everyone would be playing. It’s important for us to teach the value of hard work to our girls. It’s not just about showing up, it’s about trying and working hard to master a skill. When Bailey starts getting frustrated because she can’t get the ball to go a certain way, we remind her that it takes practice, just as it took practice for her to learn how to walk, to jump, to run, etc. That clicks with her and she gets right back in and tries again.
She has come so far these past two seasons. She is really good at doing pull backs, kicking with the inside of her foot and has started honing her defensive skills. It won’t be long before she is dribbling all over the field. We love it when she comes home and continues to practice her footwork, showing us all her “new tricks”.
Pride
There is nothing more exciting than watching your child take pride in their hard work. Watching her face light up as she scores a goal or makes a perfect pass makes all the early mornings worth it. In the last few months she is very aware of positive feedback and earning it. She is constantly asking us if we are proud of her and as we remind her that we are, she now lets us know when she is proud of herself. Soccer has given her another reason to be proud – when the coaches notice her master a skill and tell her “good job”, she grins from ear to ear.
Fun
Soccer is so much fun! Getting outside and kicking the ball around with friends while laughing and cheering each other on, is the ultimate fun activity. Letting them be kids and play with others while learning something new is what childhood is for. We want our girls to enjoy playing sports, not stress over it. They can try any sport they want to, with the only rule being that they play the season out, love it or hate it. We aren’t going to force them into one sport or another, they will be able to decide which one they love best.
It looks like it won’t be long before little sis will be joining big sis on the field. Sienna is obsessed with soccer balls, always kicking one around the house or sitting on them. She tried getting in on the drills during Bailey’s practice several times so we set her up on another field and she kept herself busy trying to do the big kid drills.
We are so thankful that we live in a community with so many wonderful youth programs to choose from. There are so many options and it looks like our girls are wanting to try them all. Bailey has been really into baseball recently and after playing with the boys on the 4th of July it looks like T-Ball will be up next. I am not sure who’s more excited – Bailey or us!
