This year Marissa wanted to join the under 6 local soccer team. For the past few weeks she has been going to weekly training. This week the result of all that training came to be. Marissa and her team had their first game today and what a game it was.
The main thing is that the kids had fun, which I think they all did. The game was 40 minutes long, which was a good length. The players certainly got their fill of excercise which is much better than sitting in front of the TV.
Watching the game and cheering for the kids was great. While it took a while for both teams to work out which goal they were supposed to be kicking on and while there was not much strategy that all added to the fun of it. The kids enthusiasm and energy was contagious and it creates a good environment.
Marissa got a couple of good kicks in and she chased the ball most of the time. I say most of the time as there was one instance where she was excited to show one of the players on the other team her missing tooth. While this exchange was happening the ball rolled past Marissa and the other player and they were happy to carry on with their conversation with little regard for the ball.
Marissa is one of two girls on the team and I wonder why there is such disparity in the number of girls playing at under 6 level. I think there is a much higher representation of girls at the higher age groups but I am not sure. Regardless of gender, the kids are enjoying themselves and that is a win in itself regardless of score.
