I never, ever thought I would say this, but…

I’m a soccer mom.

I don’t have the minivan yet (and I hope that day never comes…) but in every other way I am the epitome of the Soccer Mom Stereotype: competitive, shouting on the sidelines, secretly thinking my kid is the best. I’m ashamed of myself, I’ll admit. Why is it that we parents view our children’s athletic and academic accomplishments as a reflection of our own greatness? It’s so self-centered, if you think about it, but we all do it to some extent. I think it has something to do with our desire for immortality. But I will spare you the psychobabble.

Isabella’s last game of the season was last Saturday. Her team consisted of nine kids in the 4-6 age group. They actually played very well, considering their easily distractible minds. Technically, we’re not supposed to keep score (which is RIDONKULOUS) but—me being the soccer mom I am—I did anyway. They won 6 out of 8 games, which is pretty good, right? And I was surprised at how well Isabella played too. She’s always been shy and sensitive and uber-girly, so I expected her to be the same way on the soccer field. Turns out, uber-girl has an aggressive side! It was something I hadn’t really seen in her previously, and I hope I continue to see it, on and off the soccer field.

I didn’t play on many sports teams growing up. My parents emphasized music, travel and student government more so than sports. (And no, I was not a geek… Well, maybe a little.) So I did learn a lot of lessons from being involved in extracurricular activities, but not necessarily the same lessons acquired by my athletic peers.

Now that my own daughter is in sports I TOTALLY get why parents encourage their kids to do this. Sports teach children how to share, how to play as a team while also challenging themselves individually. It teaches them to listen to and respect authority (coaches, referees) and to celebrate their own accomplishments as well as those of their teammates. It teaches them the bittersweet but necessary balance of victory and failure: the victory boosts their confidence, the failure keeps them humble.

It’s going to be a challenge, schedule-wise, to keep Isabella in sports as she grows up, because her dad lives five hours away and she goes there on weekends. But I really hope we find a way to make it work, so that she continues to gain work ethic and team building and self-confidence.

And at the end of the season? They get bobble-head trophies. Sweet.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 4:48 pm and is filed under parent. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.