I found a British soccer camp and thought that it would be a great summer adventure for us!
We even adopted a coach! You can read about that here.
We had so much fun picking out shin guards, a soccer ball, and new tennis shoes!! I'm not sure how that took us on an all day shopping adventure, but that could make a whole new post!
Monday morning, day 1 of camp.... We may have not thought this through so well. Camp starts at 9 a.m. and Gracie sleeps until 10 a.m. We somehow managed to get it all together and get to camp. It was only an hour class for her age and day one had us spending most the time handing out t-shirts and soccer balls. By 9:40 we were ready to learn... And by 9:55 we were in tears and ready to go home. This group of kids were 3-5 and I had the only one there that was 3. She just needed a hug and she was back on the field. They played a few small learning games with Coach Paul where they learned BASIC soccer rules and skills. He had them stay in one small area by telling them they were on an island and their were sharks and piranhas all around and so you had to stay on your own island. Gracie learned a few things that day, such as the proper way to kick the ball and the "no-hands" rule.
Everyone else got a few lessons also. Gracie informed them all that not all sharks were mean, piranhas and sharks do not live together, it's rude to say "yeah" instead of yes, and that SpongeBob SquarePants is bad and that her mommy doesn't want them watching it.
I'm sure the parents were ready for us to leave. So much for me getting some socialization also!
Day two came and seemed that it would be a little less eventful. She made it most of the day without crying, we only had to make the hike to the potty twice, and she didn't make a fuss about how lions and bears were in the same pretend jungle.
THEN came the wonderful game of "kick the ball to get away from the evil doctor trying to give you shots" (British people, I swear.) Gracie was having none of this. After hands up begging "no, stop, I'm not sick, you aren't a doctor, don't give me a shot" she had a COMPLETE meltdown of "I want mommy" and we just sat that game out!
Day three went off without a hitch. She did not cry at all. She did come over a few times and want to sit with me, but after I hugged her and told her to keep playing she would be right back at it! She even played the chicken game of catching someone's feathers. The only Gracie-ism that they learned that day was this "if you pull your pants down, people will see your booty and that's not nice at all."
Day 4... Well, here is how it went... It didn't. After a horrible night of nightmares and no sleep, I wasn't taking her up there. So we stayed home. She never even mentioned it.
Day five was the last day! She loved it, played hard and never stopped. At the end of that day the coach told them how amazing they were and gave them rah a certificate. We took some semblance of a group picture and we were done.
We even made a quick run through the splash pad to celebrate!
Gracie still talks about playing soccer and I can't wait to get her in the next camp I find!!
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