Thing One Is Definitely NOT In Kansas Anymore

You may recall that Thing One (along with my other two kids) is switching to a new soccer club this summer.  Last night, there was a mandatory parent meeting for his new team.

At the risk of swelling Thing One's head, he's movin' on up like the Jeffersons here.  He was able to jump from a midlevel travel team to a very good premier team by virtue of his own expended blood, sweat and tears: he's put body and soul into training this past year.  I've said before that he was blessed or cursed with a lot of natural abilities, which have given him a great deal of success over the years without a lot of effort on his part.  This is the first time I've seen him set an ambitious goal for himself and then dig deep over an extended period to achieve it, which makes me tremendously proud of him.

It's pretty clear that the coaches think this new group of boys has serious potential: they are already talking about high school and college play for them in the future.  In the near term, the conversation about opponents alone has me gobsmacked.  Next year's schedule includes games in other states, including one tournament that is 300 miles and five hours' drive from home!  If these boys really have to go that far to get good competition, it will be a very interesting year.

Still boggles my mind that we are talking about a bunch of twelve year-old seventh graders.  Welcome to the big leagues, kid.  Hang onto your hat.