Itty Bitty Sports

Kyle has joined the world of big time athletes! The YMCA offers sports programs for kids 3-5 years old and this month Kyle is exploring a future career as a soccer player or a baseball player. The life lessons I learned from this experience include:

1. Even if your Daddy and Papa are both well over 6' tall, at 3 years old you still may be one of the smallest kids on the team

2. While Kyle may have unbelievable coordination and balance for his age, some other skills have much room for improvement ie: standing in line, waiting his turn (I think the coaches had to draw straws every session to see who needed to keep one hand on Kyle at all times to keep him semi restrained attentive)

3. It is possible for a child to "do their own thing" and not really interfere with any one else's fun

4. Teen age girl coaches take their jobs much more seriously than teen age boy coaches. I feel comfortable stating this as pure fact due to many (ok, mainly 2) factors. Firstly, I was a teen age girl who worked with teen age boys. And lastly, in typical teen boy fashion, 2 of the coaches not only laughed at Kyle as took laps around the gym kicking a soccer ball/running the bases while the other kids patiently waited their turns, they gave him high 5s and threw/kicked the ball back to him 95% of the time. While I failed to catch the instigators in the act, I'll leave this picture up to your interpretation.

 5. If your child is small, but super fast, takes 10 turns at hitting/kicking/throwing the ball/running the bases for every one turn the rest of the kids take, and super-cute, all 5 teen aged coaches will remember his name after the first practice.

6. Kyle's belly button either contains magical powers, or else is the residing place of the little elf that told him to run like a wild man

 At first Miss Em was not impressed with the talent displayed by this particular group of preschoolers

However after a reminder that many of these athletes were just learning the basics of the sport, she quickly turned from critic to cheerleader

The one thing I can say about Kyle is that when he plays, he gives it all he's got. Ever since he learned that running was fun, even if it is just a 3 foot sprint to get the cheerio off the floor before Emily, he has run like this:

Arms pumping, knees high and almost always with a face of pure determination!

Here is a video clip in which Kyle and his accomplices demonstrate pretty much everything mentioned above and encompasses the Spring Session 2011 of Itty Bitty Sports for little Kyle:

In the end fun was had by all. We'll see if Kyle gets to break in a whole new set of coaches next Spring.