Jack's Soccer Disaster

Saturday was Jack's first soccer game of the fall season.  And it was AWFUL.  After last seasons drama with Jack, we spent at least four weeks making sure Jack wanted to sign up for soccer again, and he emphatically told us "YES!!!  I WANT TO PLAY SOCCER".  And then we signed him up, and all he could talk about was soccer and how excited he was to get to play again.  We thought for sure this season would be fine, without the crying and drama that we experienced at the beginning of last season.  His first practice went very well.  No problems, no tears, and he seemed to get along with his coach and the other boys and girls just fine.

The first sign of trouble was when we pulled into the parking lot and Jack realized they were playing "The Green Team".  Green is Jack's favorite color, and he is obsessed with it.  He was immediately funky because he wanted to be on the team with the green jerseys.  We told him to suck it up, and he seemed OK again.  

Before the game.  No sign of impending doom, right?

The age bracket for his team is 4 - 6.  Last season he was only three and hadn't quite turned four but they let him play anyway because Joe was his coach.  Several kids on Joe's team were six and every single kid was bigger than Jack.  It was intimidating.  This season, all but two of the kids are exactly his size, thank goodness.

Yep, looking good.  All smiles, and no problems.  And then the whistle blew.  He was actually OK for the first five minutes or so of the game, and then all of the sudden he just stopped running and started crying.   He came straight off of the field and said he didn't want to play anymore.  

The Coach is trying to talk some sense into the boy.

It did not work.  That is not surprising.  We are talking about Jack, the most stubborn kid on the planet. And we all know what a charming disposition the little guy has.  Jack was not the only child crying and refusing to play.  This is actually quite a common occurrence at this age.  I should know, I've been a soccer Mom of three kids over a 15 year time span. However, none of MY kids have ever done it.  There were three kids including Jack on his team that were crying and did not want to play.  Jack is the only one with parents that aren't having absolutely ANY of that nonsense and forced him to play whether he wanted to or not.  

Joe took him (drug him) back out of the field.  And stayed out there with him.  He cried the entire time, but Joe did not waiver.  While the other "I don't want to play" kids were sitting on their Mom's lap drinking gatorade, getting babied and having a grand time, Jack was on the field.  Crying.  

Joe has coached youth sports for more years than I can count.  His BIGGEST pet peeves are the parents that force a child to sign up for a sport they don't want to play, the parents that sign the kid up and allow him to quit after the first game, or the parents that coddle the little kids with cookies and sugary drinks when they should be out there on the field.  While we would absolutely NEVER force any of our kids to play a sport they didn't want to play, they WILL finish out the season if they sign up.  They will give it 100% the entire season whether they like it or not, and they will keep their end of the commitment.  My man Jack finds himself on the end of this predicament now.

Jack:  "I'm done with soccer, I don't want to play anymore"

Joe:  "You wanted to play, that's why we signed you up"

Jack:  "Well I'm done now.  I'm not playing, I don't want to"

Joe:  "Too bad.  You ARE playing because you signed up"

Jack:  "No, I'm not"

Joe:  "YES, YOU ARE"

Me:  You will have to give back your awesome jersey if you don't play"

Jack:  Tries to take off his jersey

Joe:  Drags Jack back on the field

And Joe stayed with him for a good ten minutes before he came off the field.  Jack tried to come with him.  Joe was having none of it. 

Joe finally told his coach to stop babying him and make him play.  He told him he had his support and get out there and coach him.  Poor little young coach.  Look at Jack's face. 

Between Joe dragging him around the field and his coach dragging him around the field, he started the whole "Ohhhh, you hurt my arm" trick.  Yeah, oldest trick in the book, Jack.  Faker.

Jack spent most of the first half of the game and most of the second half of the game acting like a complete fool.  He did not get his way and we forced him to play.  And randomly out of absolutely nowhere, he finally got the clue that he wasn't going to win, and just decided to stop crying and play.  Finally.  And he enjoyed the last part of the game.

Smiling again.

This little boy is going to be the death of me.  He has given me a run for my money that I thought was impossible after raising the two girls.  Hopefully as he gets older he will learn to use his powers for good and not evil, because the traits that I despise in him now could be his biggest assets later on down the road.  

Jack:  "Here's my jersey" (drops it on my lap)

Me:  "Why are you giving me this?"

Jack:  "I'm done with it, you can give it back"

Me:  "No, you need it next weekend"

Jack:  "I'm done with soccer"

Sigh.  And here we go again!