Soccer Coach

My 6 year old daughter E was done playing soccer in leagues, but she still wanted to participate somehow. She has too many activities between swimming, dancing, acrobatics, and artistic swimming that I didn’t want to commit to soccer too. Her old soccer coach then asked if she wanted to be a coach herself to teach little kids. Of course E was excited about the opportunity, so here I was again with soccer on the calendar.

The only reason I agreed to do it was because I wanted her to see the other side of the equation. She was always being crazy as a kid participating in soccer and screaming things like kids rule and coaches drool. The coaches would obviously let the kids win and it made everything that much more fun for the kids. Now it was a chance for E to return the favor, which made soccer more like a job. She was up for a challenge though and I didn’t know what to expect from the first session.

I was surprised with how well she listened to instructions as a coach. She wasn’t being silly at all and was super helpful with the little toddlers. It was like a herding dog herding sheep at times, but she did it. She also helped kids feel more comfortable when they were crying for their parents. That’s the biggest part that was helpful with having her as a coach so the grown up coaches could still run the activities.

The only time I was surprised was when her coach asked her to demonstrate a donkey kick, but E was shy. She actually wanted to pick a kid to do it and the kid she selected willingly did some donkey kicks. E is usually very silly and outgoing. Maybe she needs some time to warm up fully as a coach. Aside from that, she was already an awesome coach and I was so proud to see her out there in this new role!