Soccer - Take 2!

Ellee played soccer a few years ago, shortly after she turned 3.  Looking back it was probably wasn't one of my brightest ideas, but she wanted to play so I figured what would it hurt for her to try it?  Yeah, 3 is a little too young!  She also asked to play last year, but she was a newly diagnosed diabetic and with the things that Josh and I were going through, we decided not to let her play.

She asked to play again this year, and I was more than happy to give it a second shot!  She has matured and grown so much in the past two years that I believe that soccer would be a great thing for her! We signed up at the end of July and she loved telling every one that she "is going to play soccer next year!".  No hunny, *this* year!  We did some how talk the neighbor boy into playing too so I think that helped fuel her excitement about playing!

Long story short... a girl that I grew up with called and asked me to help her coach a team!  I was more than ecstatic and we came to a quick agreement on a few things and it was all set up!  Unfortunately, it was very short notice... less than a week!  Quick studying, very rough game plan for practice structures, and wish for the best & hope it's not a complete disaster!

As a coach, I have to say that our first practice was very interesting!  With 11 kids ages 4-6, I don't know why I would have expected anything different!  The kids absolutely love the "Kick the Coach" game (although Coach Ryan wasn't so sure about it)!  From playing this game, I got a chance to watch Ellee to see how she was doing.  I see that I need to work with her on both dribbling and kicking, but I know that at this age, it just takes practice and patience to get it down!  El cracks me up, while playing "kick the coach", she came after me, but would wait till she got within a few feet of me before kicking it!  Once she gets the proper kicking technique down, that girl will have one heck of a powerful kick!!!

Now for the diabetes part of playing soccer:  we have to watch for signs of Lows. The hot weather and exercise makes your body use the glucose in your blood at a very fast rate.  She did wonderful last night!   She actively participated in the whole practice, never complained about being hot of thirsty, and at the end of it was even laughing & having a good time!  This is a huge relieve to see because some of the warning signs of a low are that she gets whiny and doesn't want to do anything.  She even went out and was riding her bike around Grandma & Grandpa's drive way after wards while waiting for dinner! However, when we checked her sugar before eating, she was down to 77 (we try to keep it about 90).  I see it as a reminder that we need to monitor not just during, but for an hour or so after wards.