Hannah's Indoor Soccer Season in Review

Today was Hannah's last day of soccer for the season.  Like the other two kids, we started her with the indoor version in the Lil' Kickers program at All American.  The next time she does soccer, it will be outdoor, and since she's the last kid, this is probably our last Lil' Kickers session.  For comparison, here is Joshua's first and second weeks of doing it. And, uh, this is where I was going to put a sentence with a link to a post about Clara's indoor soccer, but inexplicably, it seems I didn't do a post on it.  That seems impossible, but maybe it's true.  And this was Hannah's first week of it this season.  Anyway, since is the last Lil' Kickers post ever, I'm going to elaborate a little more on the different components each lesson, mostly for my own reference in the future.  I'm compiling the pictures I took of Hannah throughout several different Saturdays this season.

At the beginning of each class, and also sometimes between activities, the kids sit on the colored circles.  Hannah, as you'd expect, always does a great job of this, sitting still and listening intently to the instructions.  They always start by rolling the ball to each kid and then having them say their name and answer a question ("What is your favorite ice cream?", "What's your favorite show?"  "What did you get for Christmas?, etc.).  Then they do some stretches and brief exercises.  Pretty much all of my kids have been uninterested to do the exercises, but Clara was the most like that.  She would just stand motionless in protest.

Then they starts some games.  Sometimes Red Light / Green Light, sometimes Wake Up Fred, sometimes running all the way to the other end and back, and then usually dribbling to the other end and back.  Sometimes they get to play with the pool noodles.  It's not really a soccer game in any way, as they are supposed to try to hit the coaches with the noodles.  It's more for fun than anything else.  Here Hannah goes after Coach Madison.

Then they move to longer activities that are usually more soccer related.  There are lot that involve cones.  In the picture on the left they stack them up into a tower and then place the ball down and try to kick it into the tower to knock it over.  This is always a favorite, as everyone likes to knock things down.  On the right is another favorite: squishy balls.  These are lightweight bouncy balls that the kids can practice their "big kicks" on, kicking them as high and as far as they want.  They won't hurt anyone, which is good, because kids and parents are often getting pelted by errant kicks.

Every season there is a picture with the kids and the mascot, Kicker.  While every year there are kids who are terrified of him and afraid he will eat them like a carrot, my kids have always been happy to have their picture taken with him, such as Joshua did his first year.  Here is Hannah, happily sitting with the giant bunny.  So I guess in summary, they don't like mandatory exercise, but do like photo sessions with humans in animal costumes.


I'd say the other favorite for everyone, along with the squishy balls, is the parachute.  Everyone loves the parachute.  First, the parents and kids all grab on to the handles on the edge while the coach explains what we'll do.  In the top-right picture you can see Hannah listening intently, as always, as Coach Madison explains the plan.  We always shake it up and down, sometimes putting the squishy balls on it to create a popcorn effect.  Then everyone will raise it up above their head, and the kids will then run underneath it, playing under the canopy of color.  After that the kids will then sit on it while the parents grab the handles and jog around the perimeter, spinning them around clockwise and then counter-clockwise.  Finally we will all pull the parachute up on them and over them, wrapping them up "like a burrito".

The last thing they do is have everyone sit back in the circle, and then everyone gets stamps.  They usually get two or three stamps, which in the case of the large ones, like this giraffe, ends up with a heavily-tattooed look, with Hannah looking like she's in a pro-giraffe gang.

After it's over, a couple different times I have taken Hannah to watch one of the other games going on in the complex, typically involving older kids.  Hannah is really interested to watch the "big girls", or boys, for a bit before we head out.  The last thing we do before we leave is to get a sucker (specifically a DumDum) from the half soccer ball that serves as a bowl in the office.

Here Hannah is with Coach Katelyn on her last day.  I wasn't sure how much Hannah would like her first organized sport, but it went really well, despite her initial misgivings, so I think she'll be ready to move on to outdoor soccer for the next season.