Permission to Attack

Do you ever get the feeling you are teaching your child to be 'too' nice? I remember Makayla's first year of soccer, she was five. She has always been the petite child on the team and wasn't very aggressive until most recently. 

One particular Saturday her team was playing another team with a player that was smaller than she. The ball was in Makayla's possession and she was in close proximity to the smaller opponent. She kicked the ball toward the small girl and sort of motioned for her to take the ball. 

I remember laughing on the outside but also feeling joy on the inside because Makayla has always been a very good sharer. 

Today Matthew had a quarter where he was less focused on attacking the ball even though he was playing defense.

When he came off the field for a quarter break, I remembered the counsel I shared with Makayla just 6 years ago. "This is the one time where you don't have to share, Matt, and not only that, you have permission to take the ball away from any player on the other team. Just go steal it from them!" I encouraged. 

The picture above is his stance before the whistle blew to start the next quarter; he was ready to attack.  He played a good game. He's number 7 on the team. His team scored 2 goals today and that's the same number of goals he tells people he scored. Now that is team mentality!!