>All Soccered Out

It’s that time of year again…

Time for Punky to get on the soccer field, stare down her opponents, and lead her team to victory!

Or at least, show her brother how it’s done. He’s still a year away from officially taking the field, but don’t tell him that…

Oh let’s get real. This is still Punky’s favorite part of the game… The socializing.

It’s Punky’s fourth season on the soccer field, and it has become more apparent than ever to Hubs and I that it’s time for her to throw in the towel… at least for a little while.

After all, she has yet to score a goal. She’s the smallest girl on the team, and the slowest. And while she loves practice and loves her teammates, the moment the game starts, she turns into an uncertain, unfocused mess. She watches her friends instead of the ball, and waits for her opportunity to engage the ref in conversation or clown around on the field rather than score.

We don’t really have any good reason to keep her on the team. Punky is excelling in ballet, and is more excited about dance than any other girl in her ballet class. She’s enrolled in zoo class, acting class, and nature class, and she’s constantly on the go. She’s physically fit, plays outside most of the day, cooperates well with other kids, and makes new friends easily. In other words, soccer isn’t giving her anything that she isn’t already getting elsewhere.

So perhaps you’re wondering why we’re still hitting the field, weekend after endless weekend… Well, there are two problems.

First, Hubs is the coach. He’s a good coach, and we’ve had the same team now for three seasons. In this age group, that’s pretty much unheard of. Punky’s team has never lost a game. The parents are clearly worried that Punky, and therefore Coach, will drop out, and they cheer for Punky when she’s on the field at every opportunity, which is pretty hilarious. We both feel a little guilty about leaving the team behind. But not that guilty!

The real problem is that Punky still loves it. She loves the practices, and does well in them. She loves her soccer friends, and talks about them all week long. She loves the team cheer. She loves warming up before the game. She loves having a team snack after the game. She loves getting a group of her teammates together at the soccer fields and convincing a parent to take them all over the footbridge that spans a nearby river. She loves everything about soccer…

except for the game itself.

And that’s a problem.

So Hubs and I find ourselves giving up our Saturdays and Sundays every fall and spring in order to prepare Punky for a game she hates to play.

And frankly, I am sooooo over it.

I have made some great friends through soccer. I love our team and all the parents on it.

But I am learning that there’s a time and a season for everything. I think it’s time for our soccer experiment to end.

Now, I just have to convince Punky…

Easier said than done.

This post originally appeared on Parents.com.