Dynamos Soccer Camp

Since Alex loved his Soccer Shots class at school, I decided to try to keep his love of soccer alive by signing him up for a Houston Dynamos soccer camp. The camp was held June 16th thru 19th at Camp Sienna, which is here in our neighborhood & the same place that Addy played baseball.

Alex had a rough start to camp. As you probably already know, he doesn't like to try new things. He was pumped up & excited to go to camp & so I thought that maybe school had helped him grow out that. But no... As soon as we got to the fields & he saw the other kids, he decided that he didn't want to play soccer after all & he wanted to go home instead.

On top of that, all the kids were given Dynamo jerseys on the first day of the camp. I had requested a small for Alex during registration, but they ran small & so that small I had ordered was too tight on him. They said they could get him a medium, but they wouldn't have it until the next day. So on that first day, he didn't have a Dynamos jersey like the other kids.

It took a lot of coaxing (and bribing) on my part, but he did finally join the rest of the kids out on the field.

Camp was 90 minutes long & throughout that 90 minutes, Alex kept sitting off to the side, cried a couple of times & just seemed to be super moody. What I didn't know though was that he wasn't just being moody, he was getting too hot! At the very end of that first day, he threw up on the field because he was overheated. All in all, he just had a really bad first day.

His second day was much better though. He got his jersey & a cool new Gatorade sports bottle filled with grape Gatorade. And he knew what to do & so he was much happier & had a great day!

And by the last day, he was sad that it was over.

Here are a few pictures of my little soccer star.

At the end of the last day of camp, all the kids had a Q&A with one of the coaches, Megan Kinneman, who is from Sienna & played goalkeeper for LSU. And Alex got her autograph on his soccer ball!

Alex ended up really enjoying the camp & said that he wanted to play soccer in the fall. But when I started writing this post today & asked him if he still wants to play soccer, he said only if the games are at our house & no one is watching him. Hmm... sounds like he might have changed his mind!

Soccer Shots

 2 years ago we signed Alex up for t ball, but after the first game he was done. And then last year I signed him up for the sports skills class at The Little Gym. Most days though, he wouldn't even go in the gym & on the days that he did, all he would do is sit on the side & watch. So when his school sent home a flyer for Soccer Shots, a soccer club that would be coming to his school, I thought that this just might be the perfect opportunity to try to get him interested in a sport. So I signed him up!

Every Wednesday morning for 9 weeks, his Soccer Shots coach, Coach Lindsay, would come to St. Catherine's. The class had about 15 kids in it & lasted about 45 minutes.

On the last class day, parents were invited to watch as the kids showed off all the skills that they had learned.

They started the class with an opening circle where they discussed the word of the week.

Then they ran a little to warm up. Look at Alex, he's raring to go!

Then they demonstrated their ball handling skills. 

They dribbled the ball

and controlled the ball.

Then Coach Lindsey had the kids play a little scrimage. Alex & 3 other boys played 2 on 2. Alex was really pretty good. (Which he warns me of all the time... "I have to warn you, I'm pretty good at this stuff!")

Look at this hot & sweaty kid!

When they were all done, they came together for a closing huddle.

And got Soccer Shots All Stars certificates!

I'm really glad that I signed Alex up for this program because he loved it! It really peaked his interest in soccer & because of that, I've signed him up for a Houston Dynamos soccer camp this summer. 

Looks like we might have a future soccer star on our hands! Because don't forget... "He's pretty good at this stuff!"

Sports Skills

Last Thrusday, I took Alex to a sports skills class at The Little Gym. The class focuses on several different sports...soccer, football, basketball, baseball & golf i think... each one for a couple of weeks in a row. And it also incorporates some gymnastic activities in the last 30 minutes of the class.

Alex was super excited to go. We got to The Little Gym & he high fived the instructor & took his socks & shoes off. We were waiting for the class before his to finish up & he kept asking "Can I go in now? Can I go in now?" And then when it was time, he went in with the instructor & was ready to play.

And then another little boy showed up. And another. And another.

I was sitting in the observation/waiting room & to me, he looked like he was still doing great. But then the teacher told the boys to all go sit by the wall so she could show them a few soccer kicks. The 3 other boys ran over to the wall but Alex didn't move. He just sat there.

The teacher started talking to him & then he stood up. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. I thought maybe she was going to have him kick the ball. Until I saw the look on his face. He was holding back the tears.

I opened the door to check on him & the instructor walked him over to me. She said he was so upset that he was literally shaking & as soon as he was in my arms, he broke down & cried.

He said he didn't want to go back in to the class. So I carried him into the room & he sat in my lap against the wall.

As the other boys were kicking soccer balls, one of them rolled over near us. So I grabbed it & let Alex play with it. I got him to kick it & dribble it, but he would only do it right in front of me. He wouldn't get back on the mat.
 

 

The class does 30 minutes of group activities on the big mat & then 30 minutes of 'stations.' The boys went to the first station & Alex was very interested in watching what they were doing, but still didn't want to participate just yet.

 

When they went to the second station, we had to move closer to the boys to be able to see what they were doing. Nicki, the instructor, asked Alex if he wanted to kick his soccer ball to her. He told her "No" but that he would kick it to me.

 

And so at this point, Alex began to participate.

 

He worked on kicking the ball to me & stopping the ball with his foot when I kicked it to him.

 

 

 He crawled on the obstacle course.

 

He did some sommersaults (with assistance.)

 

He hung from the bar.

 

He walked on the balance beam.

 

And he hung on the uneven bars. (The instructor had to raise the bar for him since he's so tall.)

 

He ended up participating for about the last 20 minutes of the class. And during that time, he had a lot of fun. Even though he was "too nervous" (his words) this time, I definitely plan on bringing him back. I think it'll be good for him to be around other little boys his age & to have a little bit of time away from mommy & to find out which sport he likes the best. I think it'll probably take a couple of classes (hopefully not all 40) before he is completely okay with going, but he's already saying he wants to go back. We didn't go this week since he was sick, but you better bet he'll be there next week!