Futbol aficionado

Despite us parents not remotely being fans of soccer (I recall writing about a pretty worthless World Cup match I was forced to endure over a decade ago), Iver has shown quite a bit of interest in the sport. During the school year, he was playing after school with his friends as well as some Sundays at Pierson Park "pick-up" style and always wants to play evening backyard soccer with Kelvin or me (not it!) after dinner (how does he have the energy?!). He is ultra-competitive and we are working on losing with grace (he's surprised that I actually can complete and score goals) but, other than a "tot-letics" soccer season years ago, he hasn't had any formal soccer instruction... until this week.

For the first full week of "summer," he joined a morning soccer camp in Arcata (afternoon was art). He loved it! The kids were divided into different countries' "teams" and he was assigned to Colombia. In the evenings, the kids had projects like decorating a jersey and making a trophy. He even did google research on Colombian players including the (now retired) Valderrama.

in action

He also wanted us to sign him up for the local soccer league, which starts in the fall and in which many of his friends are participating.  I'm 100% behind my kids playing sports that they enjoy as I think being part of a team and moving their bodies provides many valuable life lessons and benefits (despite my aversion to soccer in general)... however, I am a bit daunted by the initiation (as a parent) into the world of organized sports. I really don't think I'll turn into a veritable "soccer mom," but we'll see...