Soccer Game #2

Soccer game #2! The past two weeks were rained out, so we haven't been back on the field since the last blow up.

Shane's made strides in practice. He shows some talent when he's positive.

Maybe he's going to develop his own haka?

The first couple of minutes were promising. Shane was running, shadowing, kicking....all good stuff! He looked WAY better than when he was in Hot Shots.

Then frustration mounted and Shane imploded. 

It took close close to 20 minutes, but I eventually encouraged Shane to get back on the field. I made no threats and no bribes. Soccer is supposed to be fun! 

Attempt two was a repeat of before, but quicker.

The shutting down kills me. I really don't care if he wins or loses. I want him to try and to have fun. If Shane went out there, picked grass, and spun in circles staring at the clouds it would be an improvement.

Aside from those two quick videos, the rest of the hour was spent like this: 

This:

And this:

Sadly, Shane takes it to the next level when he fumes.

Example:

Shane: "No one wants me out there!"

Me: "That's not true! Your coach said 'Good kick!' and asked you to join them. The other coach did the same thing a little before! I know your friends want you to play with them, too."

Or after I talked about how I liked his defending:

Shane: "I don't want people to say good things about me!"

Shane wished he was dead, that he should go to jail....it's all so dramatic! He's got to experience emotions to learn how to deal with them, but yeesh! Shane told one coach, "I hate soccer!" (Thank God, he's a kindergarten teacher and understands kid drama).

So yeah. We're still working on learning how to cope with frustration, try, and not to give up. I don't know if we're going to do Spring soccer if this keeps up. We'll see what Shane says in February.

I still plan on signing him up for Fall soccer next year. I think he needs this sort of pushing. Plus, he'll be older and better. Maybe he won't shut down as quickly then.