A sweaty little 5 year old Blue Shark.
This past July I got an email from the West Shore Soccer Club, it was a plea for someone to come forward and coach my son's soccer team. You see, there were enough players signed up to form six teams, but only five parents had volunteered to coach. Someone needed to step forward and take on the 6th team and I decided that the someone was going to be me.
I did somewhat know what I was getting in to because I had my first "coaching" experience this past Spring with my son's t-ball team. One huge difference though..... I know the game of baseball. I mean, I REALLY know the game of baseball. I can wax poetic with best of them on all of the intricacies of our National pastime. Want to have a debate on the best "wheel" defense against a left handed bunt with a runner on second and less than 2 outs? If so, then I'm your guy. But soccer? Uh-oh. I tried to reassure myself by thinking, "It's only 5 year old boys... how tough can it really be?" Oops.
I had a couple of weeks before our first practice to prepare, so I started doing some research. At the 5 year old level, an entire team only consists of six players because the game is played 3 on 3 with no goalie. I know that sounds a little strange, but the goal nets are very small and the idea is just to keep the kids active and moving. Armed with a positive attitude and a copy of, "Soccer for Dummies" I held my first practice on a sticky summer evening in early August. It didn't take me long to realize that I had a HUGE challenge on my hands.
This was the first experience that most of my players were having with any true organized sport. They had NO CONCEPT of the word, "team." Trying to have any kind of structure on an open field filled with a group of five year old boys and soccer balls was next to impossible. Even though I was struggling with them, by the end of that first practice there was individually something about each one of their little personalities that I really liked. I felt a connection with this group of kids and their parents.
I'm not going to lie though, the first few weeks of practice were pretty rough. Thankfully another Dad stepped up and volunteered to be my assistant, otherwise my soccer coaching career may have been over before it really started. The one thing we could at least all agree on was our name. The league had given us blue t-shirts to wear for our games, and thus the West Shore Blue Sharks were born.
We had practices disrupted by pushing, shoving, and shoe throwing. I was having trouble just teaching these kids that when a defensive player kicks the ball away from you, it isn't just cause for the fists to start flying. The low point may have come when some of my parents had to come on the practice field to help me break up a full blown fight. We were having an intra-squad scrimmage and one of my players made a nice steal, took the ball the other way and scored a goal. Instead of congratulations from his teammate, a fight broke out because quote, "He took MY BALL from me!!!!!!!!"
I also can't forget about the time that during another, "practice" the Blue Sharks found a pile of dog poop on the sidelines. NOTHING can get a cluster of five year old boys more distracted or laughing hysterically like a good old fashioned pile of dog poop. Before I could get over to the sideline and break up the party, one of them used his finger to smear a stripe of dog poop down his nose and started wildly chasing his screaming teammates. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I had to halt a few practices and get on them a lot more than I would have liked. I would never have yelled at them for anything, but I had to calmly call a huddle and lay the law a few times. I didn't enjoy it, but it had to be done in order to teach them something. We hadn't even played a game yet, and I wondered how I was going to get this group through a 12 week season. Standing there in the August heat watching the chaos, November sure seemed a long way away.
As trying as the Blue Sharks were at times, I really liked all of them..... a lot. I wasn't 100% sure, but I was starting to think that just maybe they were starting to like their coach too.
I was very nervous in the days that led up our first game. My biggest fear was that someone from the other team would make a nice play or score a goal and one of my guys would congratulate him by dumping him on the seat of his pants or clanging a shoe off the side of his head. But when the game started something unbelievable happened. Not only did they show the sportsmanship that I had been preaching incessantly, but they played really well. I was absolutely floored..... all of this time they actually were listening to me..... I did get through to them. It just took a real game for it all to, "click." It was seriously one of the proudest moments of my life.
We don't keep an official score at the 5 year old level because it's not about winning and losing. It's about learning how to be part of team and just having some fun. Having said that, my Blue Sharks have been a little soccer machine. Not only do they score a lot of goals, but more importantly my message to respect the other team and be a good teammate got through.
You've got the '27 Yankees, the '78 Steelers..... and now the '06 Blue Sharks.
After a recent practice one of my little guys came up to me with a big grin on his face, I stuck my hand out to give him my requisite high five punctuated with a, "see you later buddy!" Instead of slapping me five, he jumped up and wrapped his little arms around my neck and gave me a gigantic, spontaneous, and sweaty hug. With his arms around me he said, "I love you Coach Steve!" It totally caught me off guard and I didn't know what to say. I was surprised by my own reaction, and I had to bite down on my bottom lip for a split second to keep back some real emotion.
Our season is winding down now, and it has been a roaring success. Back in the dog days of our August practices I thought it might take forever to get to November, now I don't know where the time has gone. Our last game is this Saturday and I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to my Blue Sharks, in fact I'm dreading it. But to everything there comes a time, and I guess it's time for them to move on to Thanksgiving, the Holidays, and all things that go with being a kindergartner.
The other day on my way to work I started thinking about our upcoming final game. I started pondering what I want my last words to them to be in our final huddle when our last game is over and it's time to say goodbye. I found myself having to bite my bottom lip again just thinking about it.
Christopher, Gage, Julian, Jack, Henry and Donovon....... long live the Blue Sharks!
