Realization is a Good thing

Last Sunday my elder son participated in a Soccer tournament. Their team of under 10 kids beat both their opponents and came in the finals which were held yesterday.
On the way to the ground the talk in the team car was on who will hold the trophy first and who will get to take it home. Listening to them it sounded like a mere formality, the team will reach the ground and they will score goals, the other team will just run around and flop down.
Well the truth as it turned out was vastly different. The opponents were bigger, fitter and way more aggressive and gave a lesson in football which our team will do well to learn. The first half was a blur and before we knew it we were 2 goals down. And both the goals were due to the fact that our kids were late in attacking the ball.
The second half was better as we fought back and created lots of chances. The final whistle saw us lose 3-0 and the team was totally deflated.
In hindsight it was good as it taught the kids a lesson that they will remember for their life.

Minor League Soccer in Delhi

My son like many others in the public schools of Delhi plays Soccer more enthusiastically than cricket. He goes twice a week for soccer training with a group of friends. Coached by a Nigerian professional soccer player I have seen them gradually transform from gawky youngsters to more assured ball players. More importantly I have seen how the physical stamina and effort have been enhanced by exercise and hard work.
It seems there is a group of Nigerians who are coaching kids all over Delhi and last week they decided to organize a small tournament amongst their teams to see who has the best team. So each team had to fork out some money and the tournament was on.

Sunday was the big day when our kids went into a soccer field in one uniform and playing as one team. Some of the parents decided to forgo the sunday afternoon siesta and go and cheer their boys and we were also part of them. After an adventurous search for the ground we reached in time to see the first match which our kids won 4-

I had seen movies where American parents went to watch their kids play base ball and cheer and support their team but it was the first time that I saw parents like me coming and cheering their kids.
There was juice, cakes, sandwiches for everyone and wife was smart enough to carry 3 pints of beer and a good time was had by all. In spite of my caution to myself to not get too involved by the time of the second match i was screaming at my son to fall back or attack the ball and then I realised that irrespective of which corner of the world you are in parent hood and the feelings remain the same.

Well we are in the finals to be played next week and watch this space for more.