I'm not sure if you've ever heard the country song that is the namesake of this blog post, but it's definitely been my theme song for the last 7 days. Despite the housing fiasco ... Lara and I have both kept on going this week, because the school kept on going, and the students kept on coming! So setting apartment ggggggggrrrrrr-ness aside, here's what's up at school!
First, somehow I was duped, hoodwinked, nay, deceived!!!!! (yes I could still be talking about the housing situation, but I'm not) into coaching the middle school boys soccer team. Actually grades 5-7. Now, I love soccer, but one age group I've never worked with would be middle school. And if there is one sect of middle school that I especially don't understand, it's definitely the boys.
And the boys, after learning that I was going to be their coach, shared their mutual confusion with me as well. You see, we don't exactly have the best relationship to begin with. Everyday for recess, they play soccer. And everyday when I blow the whistle to end recess, inevitably something happens (they couldn't hear the whistle, someone kicked it as far as they could ... etc.) that takes the boys 10 minutes to sluggishly tear themselves away from the game, and get in line. I question how they can move so fast during their game, and magically loose their lightning speed the moment they hear my whistle. Now I have a schedule to keep, so if they don't pick the ball up when they hear the whistle, I take it from them. This was fine with them for about two weeks, since they would just bring another ball from home. But after I finally collected all the soccer balls, they started complying when I blew the whistle.
So, Day 1 of practice when I lead the team over to the soccer field (as if it wasn't obvious enough who would be coaching), they asked me, who will be coaching? I said me. They stared, and then there was a flurry of chatter in numerous languages, none of which were English, but I didn't have to understand their words. Their faces said it all. *BUT SHE HATES SOCCER!!!* Bahaha, if only they knew that I think soccer is the best athletic competition in the world! I just hate disrespectful little punks who try to pull crap with me everyday.
Respect for me clearly grew as I started running drills, and showing them the skills they would learn. Having 16 boys, I made it very clear to them that any disrespect or laziness would get them booted from the team. You can say "The End" to any behavior problems. Soccer means the world to them.
There's just two major problems. Problem number one: Asian cultures dislike rain, mud, sweat, and anything that will make them look unpresentable. It's all about face. But of course in soccer you need rain, mud, and sweat for any respectable soccer match (at least in the Pacific Northwest). So many complaints about the rain, so many complaints about being too muddy (and requests to go wash up mid practice), complaints about unsightly bruises (that were barely bruises) and just all around an aversion for running as it messes up their hair and causes sweating (on water breaks they prefer to run to the bathroom to fix their hair and see how they look).
Problem number two: They're boys. There has to be a goal. I set up a simple possession game with two teams, and two all time offense players. So, which ever team has possession of the ball, they will always have two extra players, encouraging them to always look for the open person to pass the ball. I can't tell you how many times the boys asked ... but where's the goal? Where do we shoot? How do we score? ... No goal? But, what's the point? I mentally put my head in my hands and shook it. There's a lot of bad habits I need to undo ... and we're starting with idea that one must go straight to goal, do not pass go, do not pass to a teammate, and do not collect $200. Oy.
In other news, the aversion to rain is not just left for the soccer field. On picture day I had an elf come in frantically first thing and asked if it would still be picture day. I was confused at first, what could've possibly changed today being picture day? You guessed it ... It was raining!!!
And ending on a happy note, a quite excellent quote from that same rain-concerned elf. We were playing that game with yes or no questions as students try to guess what character they are. Elf 1 was Pinocchio, and all she knew was that she was a boy. She asked, "Am I real?" And all the elves said "No!!!" But rain-concerned elf responded in a very positive and encouraging voice, "But you could be!"
:) Made me laugh!
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