Team Awesome

Henry joined his first team.  A soccer team.  We picked a league (i9) that stressed fun, learning, and sportsmanship as well as had the practices and games back to back on Saturday.  I kinda feel like having multiple practices a week for a 4 year is ridiculous.  He is mighty #8.

We knew that some girls from his school played with i9 and Henry wanted to be on their team so I made those requests when we signed up.  Little did I know that Henry would be the lone boy on the his little team.  When I heard they would get to pick the team name, I was worried my darling son would soon be a Pink Lady or a Pretty Princess.  I joked with one of the other moms, "If you're going to be the Butterflies, can you at least be the Fighting Butterflies?"

But not to worry, Henry and his teammates picked a fitting name for their amoeba that would be chasing the ball on the field: Team Awesome.  I asked Henry, "Awesome what?  Awesome players?  Awesome game?"  He said, "Ummmm....just Team Awesome.  Awesome everything."

Sounds pretty much right.

Henry's sweet temperament does not have him as the most aggressive player on the field.  If anybody fell down, he was the first to go and help them up.  If he happened to be near us, he would give us a thumbs up.  If the coach blew the whistle, he gave us a thumbs up.  At one point in the game, he came and gave me a hug.  It's not that I want him to ignore the kids who get hurt, but come on, perhaps maybe just shout over your shoulder, "Hope you're okay" and maybe at least moderately pay attention.  I mentioned this to a father the next day at our church's Egg Hunt as my son was reserving a pink egg for his friend Libby.  He confessed he was the same way as a kid.  Seeing as this dad is now a judge, I'm okay.  Henry can learn to be more competitive as he gets older.  Or not.  People tend to respond well to being given a thumbs up.

Of course, when we asked him what was the value of the week, he said, "I don't know.  I wasn't listening very well."

The value of the week was listening.  Clearly we didn't win the medal.  But if ever the week's value is wandering around the field aimlessly staring into the distance, he will be a shoe-in.

(If you can't tell which one is Henry, he is in the far distance.  You know, the one running in the opposite direction of everybody else.)