This morning we headed to Suwanee for Gus to have his first ever soccer lesson. We weren't sure how it was going to go, but I had a feeling that he'd really love it. I was right.
When we arrived, I had to fill out a form so that we could have our first free session. Then we headed to the middle field and Gus and Steve headed out while I stayed on the bleachers with Hugh. From the get go, Gus was happy. He loved running on the field and chasing the soccer ball.
The coach had everyone sit in a semi-circle and did a name game activity. Steve said it was obvious during this activity, how delayed Gus's speech is. The kids had to say their name and favorite superhero and Gus couldn't say either. :-/
After a quick diaper change, Gus and Steve were back on the field for some fun. I liked that the coach gave the kids a task, but they were free to do it at their own pace. They had to go get a ball and kick it back to the goal. Simple task, but it was a lot of fun to watch.
Then they lined all the kids up and had them race across the field. Gus was one of the top three fastest kids. The mom next to me commented on how fast Gus was. :-) There were A TON of kids in this class and it varies from 18 months to 3.5 years old. A large age span and amongst them, a lot of differences in ability. I am proud that Gus held his own... though when the coach tried playing "Red means stop!!!" Gus wanted nothing to do with that nonsense. He and about five others kept running while everyone else was stopped where the coach had yelled "RED!!"
Coach Sebastian yelling "RED!!!"
Racing across the field
The class was 50 minutes, which was AWESOME. At 10:30 Coach Michael came out and grabbed 1/2 the kids and took them to the other field and Gus was included in this group. On the other field, in smaller groups, they worked on foot skills. They practiced kicking over cones with their feet, and then stacking the cone and kicking the ball. Gus loved it!
Helping put the cones out
Sitting with Steve and listening to Coach Michael
Overall, it was awesome. The mom next to me was complaining about how big the group is and how her son isn't challenged and he's bored and blah blah blah. The other mom behind me, she was complaining about the size of the group and how her daughter used to get individual attention but now that there are so many kids, they don't pay any attention to her.
I think it'll be a great place for Gus to get the basic skills of soccer. I want him to be able to listen to another adult, and it's awesome that it's a man for him to listen to. So far, he's exposed to Ms. Joanie at preschool, and now he's got two coaches to listen to. I think it's great.
At the end of class, they had the parents leave the field and are doing a transition so that the kids can participate without parents on the field. Not every parent left (Steve obviously didn't), but most did. There are four more classes in this session and then a new one begins. The last class for this session is April 27th... not sure when the next one starts, but Gus will be turning 3 in the next session, and there is a 3-4 year old class. That class is a no-parent class. Hopefully Gus will be able to participate without Steve by the end of this session, so he can start in the 3-4 class in May.
After everyone was done, we talked about it and decided to definitely sign him up. When we paid, Coach Michael left and came back with a uniform for Gus! It's SO CUTE!!! It's a pair of black shorts and then a red and black shirt (the kids in the picture above are wearing the uniform). I'm excited to take some pictures of Gus in his uniform this week!!! :-)
It was a great Saturday for our little soccer star!! I can't wait to see what next week brings!
