Zara, My Soccer Player

This year I signed Zara up for the "advanced" U12 league. She's been playing soccer for a number of years and I thought it would be a good experiment to see how she fairs in a more competitive environment than the recreational leagues she's hitherto played in. Zara also missed the U10 cutoff by less than a month, so she's the youngest player on her team. It's weird seeing her out there on the field with girls who are already going through puberty. They grow up so fast!

Cara, on the other hand, was not very happy with me. She was worried that Zara would be the weakest link on the team and relegated to the sidelines; afraid that I had set Zara up for failure. I like to think, as a parent, I'm fairly in tune to my kids' skill levels and their capacity for growth. Admittedly, I'm not always right and things could have totally gone the way Cara feared. Fortunately, they have not.

Zara has risen to the challenge. By the second game she had already scored a goal. She is not one of the team's top players, but she plays her heart out and loves it. No longer playing with beginners, she has really grown as a player. She and her teammates pass the ball to eachother with finesse as they travel down the field. She steals the ball from opponents. She takes shots on goal. She races the girls to the sidelines during practice to get water. It's funny to watch the older girls roll their eyes at her enthusiasm and see Zara enjoying herself too much to care. And that confidence only grows with every success.