Soccer Musings.....

We played our last games with WAZA Flo today. WAZA is Japanese for 'technique'. When the kiddos were younger and went to summer soccer camp, 'remember your WAZA!' was sort of like a battle cry. And it was a good one. The Princess has played for this soccer club for four and a half years and her brother for two. The practice field has changed twice in that time and we have driven close to an hour each way two or three times a week....for practice. This year we were lucky that another family from school decided to play there as well. Car pooling became the name of the game. However, sky rocketing gas prices - among other things - have led us to decide to find a club closer to home.

I didn't expect to feel melancholy today but I did. Watching the Princess play in the HOT sun with soccer friends - some of whom she has played with for four years and others for two- was a little sad. They have come a long way as a team - together. They have all really grown up....and in some respects, out. Heh. Thinking about where they were as as eight year olds and now they are twelve and thirteen....where does the time go?

My soccer fiends have both gained so much in terms of skills and confidence with WAZA. Seeing what his sister was trained to do is what precipitated the Prince's decision to switch soccer clubs. He went through alot of taunting and bullying at school for changing. He even had a circle from the old club tease and pester him from the sidelines during an actual game. He was tagged a traitor by kids who shouldn't even be allowed to say the word. I thought staying out of it and teaching him to deal with it by 'blowing it off' was the way to go. After all, he was going to have to deal with the same sort of thing for the rest of his life, right? A friend taught me different when she stood up for her son....who was going through the same thing for the very same reason...by cornering the parents of the kids doing the bullying. It stopped. Sort of. MY lesson learned.

We have planned tryouts at three local clubs in the next week. We shall see where we actually end up......