DPoD August 1 - Monkey goes to soccer camp

For the past 3 mornings Monkey has taken part in his first real soccer camp - I'm not counting the stuff that he did with the City of Ottawa this spring since it was less than impressive. He woke up each morning ready and raring to go. I've never seen him put on a set of clothes so quickly. We took the bike trailer to the local soccer pitch and since daddy was one of the coaches Monkey helped each morning to set up the nets. He's actually really really helpful. By the way - he's the 4th kid from the left shouting his approval.


Each morning consisted of some simple drills, including passing and heading the ball. He's quite good at heading the ball, which must come on the X chromosome since daddy has very little skill at it. There is also a great game they played twice each day (they could have played it the entire time for 3 days straight) called Boats and Pirates. The coaches line up behind two opposing rows of pylons and the kids all line up at one end of this row. The kids then all have to run at the same time to the other end of the row while the coaches try to hit them (gently) with soccer balls. If you're hit you become a pirate. Monkey was superb at yelling 'arrrrghh' each time the coach asked 'are you ready boats?', but usually was one of the first to become a pirate since he was one of the youngest kids there. He also alway's tried to run first so the availability of balls was always high. His sportsmanship improved daily, though as his energy levels wained so did his patience. We also did some dribbling drills, at which Monkey really excelled at. He was very proud of himself and the way that his peers cheered him on.



There was lots of water provided and plenty of cookies and freezies at snack time. Monkey made sure that Big C got a freezie at the end of the day today. A blue one at that (the most desired colour by kids under 4, but I'm not sure why). What a good big brother.

Overall, he had a great time at the camp. He and I are looking forward to his participation next year and more sports over the winter. It was a great experience for him and I think he learned a little about soccer and a lot about life.