Observer Online | Viewpoints

Posted April 27, 2007

A Kicking Frenzy

In an attempt to try to steer our 4-year-old daughter away from all things "princess," my wife and I have been trying to introduce her to the world of sports.

For Christmas, we bought Audrey and her brother, 2, an indoor basketball hoop and soccer goal. Getting the two of them to play has not been hard. It's not unusual for us to finish up dinner and head to the basement for a rousing game of tackle basketball or kicking practice, which sometimes involves kicking the ball instead of your brother.

Audrey enjoyed playing soccer so much, we asked if she would be interested in taking a soccer class, joining a soccer team. She seemed excited by the idea, so we thought that we might give team sports a shot even at her young age.

Several weeks later, the first day of soccer practice arrived in Reston, and Audrey was suitably ready to go. We showed up and mingled right in with the throngs of children.

Audrey stood in line and received her new soccer ball and a team T-shirt, and then we jumped into the fray. The first day of soccer practice for hundreds of children, we found out, can be kind of chaotic. Well, it's actually entirely chaotic. The children were stampeding around screaming with glee while the coaches churned them along by shouting commands. The fields were ringed with parents.

Needless to say, Audrey was completely overwhelmed by the activity, the noise and the newness of it all, and it quickly became clear chances were slim that we were going to get her to join in the riot. Her brother, Charlie, meanwhile, could not be kept from the field. Every chance he got he was out with the big kids, kicking and laughing and paying no attention to anyone. He ended up spending most of the remainder of the hour at the playground, which turned out to be just fine with him anyway.

Much to her mother's chagrin, Audrey only showed a real interest in the girls on the field when half of them put on yellow jerseys. "Mom," Audrey shouted, wide-eyed. "They're wearing dresses! They're all princesses."

A couple of weeks later, we had resigned to the fact that we had just purchased the most expensive T-shirt and soccer ball ever, when we went out for a family walk and took a ball with us. At some point, I suggested to Audrey that we head out to the meadow and play soccer, and she got all excited. Seeing an opportunity, I suggested that we do soccer exercises like the girls did on her team, and, half-joking, I told her I would run around and yell like one of the coaches.

Well, that was that. Audrey had more fun that afternoon running around, expertly kicking the ball across the meadow as I chased behind, doing my best to imitate an English accent (or maybe it was Australian) while yelling "Run! Run! Run! Stop! Turn! Now, runrunrunrunrun and kickkickkickkickkick."