Carlsbad Lightning -- The Accelerators

This year we left AYSO behind (we were definitely not impressed) and Max is doing Carlsbad Lightning soccer. Even after the first practice we were loving that the focus is learning skills and getting better instead of just having fun (yeah yeah, I get that fun is important, but honestly I want Max to learn and develop soccer skills and I think that is more important). They won their first two games 8-0 and then 6-0! The next one they lost by two and then won the next 6-4. The last game they lost by a 8-4. But win or lose it's not that important. They play with much larger goals on a larger field and with goalies. Most of the time a goal is scored because they get lucky as opposed to actually shooting. The last game they lost was because the opposing team had a kid that could actually take a shot, but at this age that is still pretty rare. We often win our games because we have a couple of big tall kids that know how to boot the ball far up the field. It definitely helps.

We've been having a little bit of a struggle with Max and the effort he puts into the games. He does a lot less running than normal and a lot less paying attention. It doesn't help that the last two games he's been kind of sick and I think it's hard on him to not have Tyler there to watch (Tyler hasn't had a Saturday off in months so he hasn't been able to see a game yet). While I'm not really one of those sport psycho parents, I do want him to take being on a team and playing seriously. I want him to learn the value and importance of being part of a team and that being part of a team means you try your hardest ALL of the time, not just when someone is yelling at you to. I want him to learn that Tyler and I always expect 100% effort. I think it also may be hard for him that he isn't the best kid on the team anymore. His height is holding him back a little. He's fast but physically when he runs next a kid whose legs are 4 inches longer he's burned. And I think that is hard for him. But all in all he's having a positive experience and learning a lot!