The Law Family: Hunter's First Soccer Season

I signed Hunter up for his first season of soccer. I signed him up earlier in the summer, but the season didn't start until September. He was beyond excited and couldn't wait to start the season. He got a lot of soccer gear for his birthday so he would be ready. Hunter is smaller for his age and he just turned 4 the week before it started, so he was just about as young as you could get. I was a little worried. He was so excited and I wanted him to have a good experience, but was worried he would get pushed around. He had an amazing time. He definitely got pushed around and was WAY smaller than just about everyone else (Poor kid couldn't even fit into his uniform) but he pushed right back. He was determined, aggressive, and competitive. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning he would wake me up and exclaim, "Mom! I have a game tonight!" He usually wore his jersey to bed.

Hunter getting ready for the kick off. A little intense? Maybe. We were glad Grandma Hunter was able to come to this game.

After a few games, Hunter started getting the hang of it and really wanted to score a goal. During a half time, the team went out to the field to practice for a few minutes. Hunter ran to the ball, dribbled, and shouted "GOAL!!" as he kicked in the goal (with no one else even close to him). He then proceeded to run to all of his teammates shouting, "Hey, did you see me score? I made a goal. Did you see?" He ran to me afterwards to tell me his good news. Holding in laughs, I just couldn't tell him that it wasn't really a goal and that his team was just practicing. So, instead I gave him a high five and said, "good job buddy!" It never hurts to have a little confidence right?

Well I guess that confidence boost is just what Hunter needed. The next week he came to me and said, "Mom, guess what? I am going to score a goal today!" I replied, "That would be so cool, but even if you don't, I still love going and watching you play." I honestly didn't know if he would make a goal all season. The boy surprised me and scored a goal that night and then two more goals the following game. I love this boy's determination.

Hunter is quite competitive. He loves to play games and he loves to win. I think he cried almost every time he had to have a time out because he didn't want to come out. He just wanted to keep playing. He definitely was not one to run off the field to play on the playground or pick grass during the game. Hunter was all in.