Back in the fall of 2004, our girls were only 4 or barely turning 5, but they seemed to love the game already. The picture on the left was taken after our last practice before our first game. We had just handed out the uniforms and went to get some ice cream. (Judging by the way the jerseys fit, there was clearly a business opportunity...Breakaway Fashions anyone? Uniforms made for little girls? What a concept!)
Well, all of them loved the game except Olivia; she seemed to prefer not being distracted by such things as scoring and defending. However, I do remember a game where we had only 3 players show up for the game (we played 3 v 3). It was drizzling. The field was muddy. And one of our 3 players was Olivia. It looked like we were in serious trouble. To all of our amazement, Olivia played her hardest that day. I don't know if she knew how much her team needed her that day or if we just got lucky, but all 3 girls hung in there for the whole game and played lights out. It really was a special day.
Four of the six girls stayed with the team for the next several seasons. If I can give one word of advice, make sure you reward the kids at this age for trying. Teach them to reward each other as well. Misses are as good as goals so long as the effort is there. Celebrate the effort. In hindsight, I'm not sure I emphasized that enough this first season. The coach had a lot to learn too.
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