Where are all my soccer mamas at?
I’ve been a soccer mama pretty much my entire mommyhood. AB started playing when she was just 4 years old. She fell in love with the game instantly. It all started with rec soccer where she just played on Saturday mornings for several weeks. After several years, she graduated on up to the big leagues. She went on over to club soccer aka travel soccer. Now this is where the real fun started. She has ended up playing for Southern States Soccer and absolutely loves the coach and club.
She has been playing pretty much year around for about six years now. This is also where the real money began. Who can feel me on this? We pay for her monthly fee to the club for her training. Then we pay for her tournament costs and our personal travel costs to travel to the tournaments. When you are traveling 2-3 weekends a month. It adds up pretty quickly.
Why do I do it you may ask? Being an only child comes at a disadvantage for many things. You don’t always know how to effectively deal with conflict because you don’t have siblings. A lot of the life lessons that she may be missing from being an only child she has learned through team sports. She has learned discipline, hard work, dedication, respect, self control, goal setting, team work, and so many more things.
I joined a group on Facebook months ago called Scholarships for Soccer. Of course, AB’s goal is to play at the collegiate level. I thought it would be a good resource, and it has been a place of valuable information. About 8 weeks ago, I found myself in a place I never hoped to be as a parent. My child was struggling with her confidence and self doubt was creeping in big time. I knew that I had to attack this issue and had to attack it fast. Self confidence is a big deal for a young teenage female.
I was watching an interview one night with a soccer coach out of the Chicago area that ran a mentoring program where he mentored young soccer players virtually through telephone calls. I had seen some of his content he had put out, and it was quite helpful. I contacted him. What could it hurt, right? He and I had an initial phone conversation, and I explained my concerns. I was really concerned whether he could get her to open up and communicate with him. She is extremely quiet and shy. He assured me that he believed he could get her to open up, but if he could not then we could discontinue the program.
Yall, I didn’t just automatically enroll her into the program. I discussed it with her first and asked if she was open to the idea of working with him to help her game. She agreed to it. I think that is the key. Not to force something on your kids. Give them the option to choose. I know I don’t like to be forced into something, so why would we think that our kids would want to be forced into something that is already going to be uncomfortable for them.
I can tell you, it was one of the best decision I have ever made in my parenting. I have seen such a change in her on and off of the soccer field. Lucas has provided her with tools to help assess areas in her life, given her action steps to take to improve certain areas, helped her with creating a precise vision for her future, and working on creating an alter ego so she can leave that shy teenager behind when she steps on the field. If you have a soccer player and you want to help improve his/her game, I would recommend you contact Lucas Zeiler at my soccer mentor to talk to him about his programs that he offers.
AB is going into the 9th grade this year. We are getting close to the recruitment years. Right now, I am trying to keep her focused on her academics. Now is where it begins to count for her. That is what college soccer coaches are looking for in players, the strong academics to go along with the strong athletics.
Parenting isn’t easy, y’all. Parenting an athlete seems even harder sometimes. Life is busy, but oh so worth it. I couldn’t imagine life without my soccer player!