JsMom wrote:
Thanks for your imput, tkmattson. J really loved scouts when he was younger but has grown bored of it, and wants to try something new. He's been playing soccer for over four years and really loves it a lot. He's at the level that he could go into Select, which is, I think, the highest level a "kid" can go in soccer. J's wish is to play soccer in high school, and I've told him that he would have to go Select if he really wanted to play in high school because the schools in our area won't pick a kid to play if they haven't gone Select. (I think that's B.S. personally, but that's just the way it is). J is a little nervous about it because it will be different; it will be harder; and he probably won't be the "star" anymore. However, we've been through all this when he changed out of the YMCA soccer club and went into a more competitive league two years ago, and he did so good!
He's also interested in football...sort of. I think he's worried about the change and that he might get hurt. My husband believes that if he goes into football and gets good at it, he will probably have lots of friends, and no one will care that he does silly/kind of weird stuff.
I'm really proud of J. When he was little he couldn't catch a ball to save his life. He was so uncoordinated and clumsy. Now he is so agile and so sure of himself on the field. All that practice has certainly helped. out.
Oddly enough, I did play football, as well as doing music in my own band, my first two years of high school. Eventually something had to give though. Once you get into high school, there does become a heirarchy even among football players - the starters versus the bench warmers, and I fell into the latter category for the most part. Music gave me something that no one else could touch, that set me apart in a positive way - all my quirks seemed quite natural, whereas I was still a weirdo when I was playing football. The dichotomy eventually made no sense, so I lost the football player aspect, something I have absolutely no regrets about to this day twenty years on. If your son is good at it, or just wants to give it the college try, by all means do so, but I would also encourage something artistic - something he can permanently hang on to that's his and his alone, which can help build his self-esteem well beyond high school.
17 Mar 2007, 1:35 pm
