First day of Spring Soccer

Today was the beginning of Spring Soccer for Jesse. He was real excited about it, as he enjoys playing with this team and has fun playing soccer.  (He also likes football and basketball.) While Jesse was happy about playing soccer again, I was secretly dreading it, because every spring, Jesse has to deal with seasonal allergies. He does take allergy medicine but sometimes it does not work as well as it should. In the past, we have had to supplement his allergy medicine with another medicine (per his doctor’s instructions) as well as use an inhaler for when the allergies triggered an asthma attack.

But despite my apprehension, I knew I could not let this setback keep my son from enjoying one of his favorite sports. That wouldn’t be fair, and that would send him the wrong message about how to deal with roadblocks in life. He HAS to be able to play soccer despite his allergies. Hopefully, this season will not be as bad as the last one. I’ll just have to stay vigilant in giving him his medicine and watching for any problems, as well as keeping his inhaler with me when we go to practice or games. (Kidsports, the sport club hosting this activity, is aware of Jesse’s allergy situation, as well as my neighbor/friend/assistant coach, so we all are aware that Jesse might need to be pulled out if anything happens.) I’ll just have to cross my fingers and hope that everything will be okay!

As far as the first practice went, I didn’t think they’d be playing much soccer, as they did not on the first day of last season, but, yes, they DID go into a practice round of playing soccer! Unfortunately, I had not told Jesse to wear his shin guards, and, well, he ended up getting a shin injury. Ugh. The assistant coach reminded me about the shin guards and I told him I wasn’t sure if he’d need them today. He told me that Jesse would need them every time, for practice and games. (I am paraphrasing him here.) (Fortunately, I can lipread him pretty well!) I was mentally kicking myself over that mistake. #SoccerMomFail

But other than that, it went really well. Jesse did pretty good even though he fell a few times. He also got quite a bit of scrapes on his legs – and here again, the shin guards would’ve been helpful! As well as the soccer socks. (And, yeah, he should’ve worn pants. It was VERY cold! It was also drizzling. So in addition to me freezing as I watched from the sidelines, I also got pretty soaked.)

After practice, Jesse and I were pretty cold, wet and muddy. Ah, spring soccer. Just like last year! (Only this time, I hope I don’t slip in the mud!) But he had a great time and really enjoyed playing soccer today. He is looking forward to playing soccer with his teammates more often!

Here are pictures I took. I couldn’t get a picture of him kicking the ball (wasn’t fast enough):