Update on Mia and Soccer

The first two weeks of soccer have been interesting for Mia.  She loved practicing and really did very well; she has great control of the ball and kicks well.  However, she completely froze up when it was game time.  She kept saying she didn't like playing in games, but the moment they were over, she totally brightened up again.  Last Wednesday, she came with me to Lily's practice.  At the end, the coach held a scrimmage between the kids' team and the adults. Mia came out with me, and held my hand for a few minutes as we ran around after the ball.  After a few minutes, she let go of my hand and was off.  She had an absolute blast!  Afterwards, I asked "Mia, do you know what you just did?" and she said "No, what?"  I replied "You just played in a soccer game!"  Her eyes got so big and you could see the realization come together.  She got so excited and said "I did!  I did play in a soccer game!"  Lily was so sweet to encourage her too and tell her how great she did playing.  As we were leaving, I said "Mia, do you think you'll play with the Sharks in the game on Saturday?" and she very enthusiastically replied "Yes!"  I told her if she would try playing, we would go get ice cream after the game.  That's right...I went to all out bribery.  She was thrilled.

Saturday morning came.  I was cautiously optimistic as she was still saying how excited she was to play and go get ice cream.  Sure enough, once they said it was time to play, she ran out and played her little heart out.  It was so much fun to watch!  She actually scored five goals and one own goal during the game (not that anyone keeps score...).  Lily again was so sweet to encourage her and cheer for her.  I was so proud of both of my girls!

Here's Mia dribbling the ball.

 Enjoying the promised ice cream (technically frozen yogurt).  I let her pick everything today; she chose vanilla yogurt with sour gummy worms, chocolate chips, mandarin oranges and strawberries.  She then proceeded to eat every bite and turn the bowl up to drink every last melted sip.

Later, she asked "when is my next game?"  When I told her the game was next Friday but she has practice on Monday, she replied "Ahhh man!  I don't want to practice, I want to play a game!"  What a switch!  Thankfully, practice went very well tonight.  It is so much fun to watch both the girls play hard and do their best!