Junior In Soccer

Junior joins his team.

Junior began soccer this past week. This also is through the Rome-Floyd County YMCA. At fiirst he never got a call from his coach, but Syl called and found out there was a meeting to put kids on different teams two Saturdays ago. She showed up and discovered they were having more of a "tryout" where kids had to run and kick the ball. Junior, an "I-need-preparation" man like his father, was not ready for this. So he spent most of the time curled up on the field, especially when they decided to have a "game." Poor guy. Junior on the field to play.

Apparently his coach had dropped out, and they were working on a replacement. A different coach offered to have him come to his Tuesday practice and was ready to take him under his wing. A few hours before Syl and JuneBug were to go to this Tuesday practice, they received a call from his new coach, with instructions to come to a Thursday practice. So the Tuesday practice Junior was prepped for was now a no-go. Poor guy.Junior's team is ready to play.

So he was prepared for a Thursday practice, but on Thursday it rained, and practices were cancelled. So he had a game scheduled for Saturday, and had as of yet had no soccer practice or training. And of course this happened during one of our busiest weeks this summer, so we never got out to practice at home. Poor guy.

The teams are lined up to start the game.
So we showed up for Saturday's game (this past weekend), and here is how things went: Jon talked to Junior to encourage him to be ready to play, but when Junior got 10 feet from the team (lined up to practice before the game), he fell to the ground crying. Jon's attempts to encourage him to play only got Junior off the ground and standing by the other boys. He wouldn't participate. Poor guy. Junior stood while his teammates took off after the ball.
The coach came over and pulled him into the huddle. This is where the pictures show what happened. Junior just stood there and said nothing, not even answering to tell them his name. And as things got under way (pictures 2-5), you'll notice Junior is basically in the same stance, not having moved an inch. He joined in, but wouldn't move. The coach basically put him where he was, and he stood there. Junior kicking the ball on the sideline with the coach's son.
So the coach set him to the side working with some older boys, one of whom was the coach's son. At first Junior wouldn't move. Eventually he kicked the ball, and before long was playing actively with the son on the sideline. He was smiling and having fun.
Junior after he scored one of his "three goals."

At one point we asked if he was ready to play in the game, and he said yes. So we encouraged him to go tell the coach. He looked back timidly halfway across the field, and we told him to keep going, which he did. He told the coach, who then put him in the game! Junior began to run around with the other boys, and chased after the ball. Eventually he even scored some goals.Junior having a blast!
Junior ran, kicked, and had a lot of fun once he joined the game. Notice the tell-tale tongue hanging out of his mouth! He got knocked down (a few times), but got back up and went after the ball. He ran over to tell us after he scored a goal. He did a great job. Hopefully next week will be easier from the get-go. Hopefully we can get in a practice today!