Ruby Hearts Soccer

We are coming to the end of spring soccer season and Ruby has developed a love for the game. Fall season I could not have said the same thing. We switched her to a different soccer club and they didn't have a U8 team, so they put her on the U9 team with a group of girls a year older, a year bigger, who had been playing together for several years. She was not warmly welcomed. She was an outsider and she hated practice. I can't blame her. But she stuck it out, she was tough and now she is seeing the rewards. She is no superstar soccer phenomenon, but she is dang fast and starting to hold her own. Her team frequently plays U10 teams, and I have yet to see even a 10 year old beat her to the ball when she puts her mind to it. Her team now accepts her as one of their own. I was shocked when I asked her if she wanted to go to a post season practice for a tournament and the answer was yes. She would have done anything including gnaw her own leg off to get out of a practice in the fall. I am glad I didn't give up on her even though many times I was so angry I could have screamed and threatened several times to pull her out completely because I was tired of forcing her to go to practice. We love that she is starting to have a really good time. That's what makes it all worth it.