Soccer Mom

It's official. I'm a Soccer Mom. Jack is playing on the U7 Rush travel team this year. They travel around Metro Detroit playing other U7 teams. It's a big commitment - BUT he actually does LOVE it and it feeds his competitive nature. He's a pretty loud voice on the field (and from the sidelines). We've had to remind him to be more encouraging...but the kid HATES losing. Because of that - he's a pretty badass defender. Don't get me wrong...he also loves scoring. But his competitive nature makes him protective of the goal and coaches love kids who hate losing. He's aggressive and focused on the field. We've had fun watching him develop as a player. That being said - we will also continue baseball and possibly add basketball to his line-up. People can say what they want about kids being "over-scheduled" - I get it - but I also know that a BUSY kid stays out of trouble. We're keeping them busy.

And then there is Josephine.  She's playing on a U6 Rush Academy team this fall.  She practices once a week and plays a game every Saturday. She LOVES it and is really improving. The biggest positive for her is self-confidence. She is always following in Jack's footsteps - so having her moment to shine is really fun to watch. Here's a story from her first game:

Tyson took her to the field for the pre-game practice. Her coach (who is Jack's full-time coach) was on duty to coach the girls.  He asked is she wanted to be called Josephine, Josie, or a different name.  Tyson told him we call her Josie or Jojo. He was like "Great! I'll call her Jojo." So the ENTIRE game he's yelling "JOJO!" from the sidelines and she is totally oblivious that he's talking to her. Needless to say - we are switching her "soccer name" back to Josie for all future games.