Not a Football Fan
We went to watch Sam play football this morning. So, a few observations.
First, I am burned out by year round football and I think at the end of this outdoor season, I will suggest that he take a break and maybe switch to hockey. Enough is enough. Sometimes I wonder what drives us as parents to put up with it- with the time we need to spend, getting him to and from games, the time spent standing on the sidelines, this morning in pretty horrible (chilly and intermittently rainy) weather, the time that could be spent in other ways. Then I realize, the other parents probably enjoy it a lot more than I do.
Perhaps that’s because I was never much of an athlete as a kid and I’m not much of a sports fan today. Frankly, I think sports are for people who aren’t smart enough to read books. Standing in the bleachers and shouting Go! Go! Shoot! is great fun for people who do not have any thoughts that are more involved than that and God love ‘em, but I get a bit bored with it. Perhaps it’s partly a language thing. I don’t really communicate with the other parents, beyond a nod and hello. That’s partly my fault, because I speak enough Czech I could probably force my way into the conversation if I really wanted to, but I’m not motivated to push it. Sometimes, if it’s just a practice session, I take a book along, but if I have Isabel with me, that doesn’t work. Fortunately, Isabel isn’t bored at all. She seems to quite enjoy the atmosphere.
Second, Sam’s team has really improved. This time last year they were losing almost all of their games, could barely connect their foot to the ball if it was placed in front of them, and didn’t seem too bothered by that. Today, they were 3-1-1, and were 2nd only to a team that went 5-0.
I’m not sure why. They practice twice a week, and they are a year older, but I’m pretty sure the same is true for the other teams as well. Their coach really works them hard, and is a shouty, drill sergeant wannabe sort of coach, but I’ve been to the tournaments and he’s not exceptional. Also, I’m not sure that is the ideal coaching method (but I’m not sure it’s not, either)
In any event, Sam loves the game, he likes his teammates real well and I suspect that if I try to pull the plug at the end of this summer, I might be overruled. We’ll see.
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