The kiddies had their first game of soccer on the weekend. There's really only two issues with the team (that I can see):- They can't score goals
- They can't stop the other team from scoring goals
Apart from that it is all sweet :-)LGR was the first cab off the rank as goalie and he was pretty handy at it. His instincts are pretty good - he was obviously tracking the ball and on the balls of his feet. He showed a natural inclination to move towards the ball and was quite capable of pouncing on it when it came within the goal circle. LGR's mate was similarly capable in the second half but not quite so willing to actually grab the ball with his hands.I am looking forward to training this week - now that I've seen them play I have a very good idea of who can do what and where each player needs some help. Which means I can put some structure into the sessions rather than just get them to drills and hope they hit the mark.--We had a few visitors over the weekend. Aunt BJ watched LGR play on Saturday morning and then stayed around for lunch. She introduced us to her man-friend and we all had a nice and easy lunch. The kids loved the man-friend so this would indicate he has a nice nature.Sunday was a BBQ with the Chef family after watching the footy. Always fun :-)
I was listening to the radio on the way home from work yesterday (I get a lot of time to listen to the radio - Sydney traffic is not getting any more friendly) and they touched on an issue which I am quite interested in (possibly to the surprise of some of my readers).Memories. Specifically the acquisition and subsequent hoarding of 'stuff' and the reasons why people keep the things they do. Examples of this were things like receipts, love letters, photographs, kids art, shoes etc.There was a bit of too-ing and fro-ing but in the end I came to the realisation that I keep things (specifically pictures, video & music) not to show other people (although I do) but to give me the visual hit in the future that allows me to 'travel back' to a moment in time and relive it. It works for me but I will readily concede that for others it would have no such impact.It's also another reason why I keep this blog - and why I wish I updated it more often. --What's been happening?I am now the proud coach of an U/6 soccer team. It's good to see that I am finally using that Bachelor of Sport Science degree from all those years ago. I was talking to some folks about it over the weekend and they were asking me what sort of things you try to teach 5 and 6 year olds. I ranted and raved for a few minutes before being asked "How do you know that stuff". And it was a good question - it's not like I've ever played or coached soccer, and am not a particularly big fan of the game. I certainly didn't study a module at Uni called Soccer. What I did study included sport psychology, skill acquisition and coaching fundamentals. Between these things and a modicum of Internet research it's suprisingly easy to come up with literally hundreds of games that can be used to teach the various aspects of the sport.Now I just have to relay it to the kids in a way they understand.What else has been going on? The kids are improving their swimming skills at a massive rate. I'm very impressed and pleased with the way they are developing. Consistency is the key and they are now both in classes with good teachers who turn up from week to week.LGR is loving school. He doesn't really want to talk about it that much when we ask questions, but every now and then (usually at dinner time) he will start jabbering on about this and that and telling us all sorts of things. What intrigues me most is the level of school work he is doing. It seems quite basic - and this is supported by LGR telling us that all he learns about is God and Jesus. He already knows everything else!!Hayzey is learning the difference between telling the truth and lying - and seems quite determined to practice the fine art of telling fibs. Not that she is any good at it. I'm not even sure that she realises she is doing it. When sho does it the lie is almost always blatantly obvious but she denies she is lying until she is blue in the face.A few days ago Hayz said something to me and I responded by telling her she was a cute little kid. She replied "No I'm not. I'm very, very funny."--What's coming up?LGR has his first school fun run the day before Good Friday. Then we get 4 days off to do hopefully very little. There will be a picnic on Easter Day to catch up with whoever is also at the picnic and quite possibly a trip up the mountains on Easter Saturday.On the 29th we are possibly travelling into town for a weekend away from the kids. We're doing this with friends - but one of the friends recently had a very bad accident at work and we're not quite sure if the weekend will occur or not. I hope it does for so many reasons.We're also off to see The Chaser live on stage durnig the weekend of the 4th and 5th April. I'm looking forward to this quite a bit.