Sammy's Goal

Sammy scored his first goal in soccer yesterday. This was quite possibly the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. Him... not so much... but ME - oh yeah!

Before I get going, let's get something straight - while I love sports, I am not one of those crazy parents who pushes his kid to be the absolute best and to win at all costs. I think that having fun and learning how to play team sports is what is the most important thing at this age (or at any age really, unless you are making a living playing professional sports). I have a degree in acting for God's sake - so aggressive athletic dad does not really describe me.

Two weeks ago I saw a noticeable difference in his play at soccer. He seemed to have overcome his primary obstacle - fear of going after the ball. Also his fundamentals of dribbling and stopping the ball seemed to be improving.

On Saturday we were talking about the upcoming game in the car and he told me that he didn't want to play defense today, but rather wanted to play offense. This was odd, because Sammy has verbally voiced his preference for Defense in the past. (Prompting me into my "Defense Wins Championships" speech). But today was different...

As we got out of the car, I reminded him to not be afraid and to be aggressive about getting the ball - when it is in his part of the field.

It seemed to have worked... and Sammy Beckham scored his first goal!

Who knew this parenting thing could be so easy!