Eli is still on his year round 'travel' soccer team through our local soccer club. While he is enjoying it, the season started very rough last fall with more practice cancellations than not, eventually leading to a change in our coach (who we never really got a chance to know anyway). A few roster changes occurred late in the fall as well...all of this has unfortunately led us to being in the height of the season without any momentum or sense of 'team' for the boys. So when school soccer tryouts came around, we were ready.
Eli was on the team last year, so it was assumed he would make it again. The school ended up not cutting anyone; there is actually an overabundance of spring sports available this year, so the kids have all spread out evenly on the teams. Even though a few of our boys are new to the sport, they had a great showing in their first game last week. Nevermind the score, they were really 'beautiful' to watch on the field: passing, communicating, supporting. It was really really cool, especially given our other team at the moment. I reminded Eli this week that both teams have a lot of talent - his travel team probably has more. But individual talent is trumped by overall teamwork every time.
Another really cool thing (for me) to see at the game is something I've seen a little in other areas as well: Eli is dipping a toe in leadership. He was shouting out to his teammates during the game, as they were taking their positions, even on the sidelines when he would sub out for a minute. That shows ownership to me, and I like that (on the cusp of freshman year, no less!) Eli feels confident enough to 'own' his team.
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