H2O Polo

Last night I went to my son's home game. A team from Seattle came and pretty much destroyed our boys. But not initially. No, not at first. The first and last quarters were very good. My boy assisted with a goal -- first goal of the game. Then he got the last goal that their team scored, the last of 4. The middle was a bunch of splashing in which the other team rolled over our boys.

But I'm one of those moms who cheers for everybody. Even the other team. Because that's who I am. Not really loudly for the other team, but I just think that when you don't clap for the efforts of the other guys, or  clap for your own team when they try hard but come up short, you've missed something about youth sports.

I cheered just as loud for each shot on goal whether or not it made it in. I screamed loudly when I saw them block a shot or if my boy defended against his opponent to cause the loss of possession (that was pretty awesome).

So many times lately, I look at my boy and he's not happy. He's so very serious. I'm not sure if it is grades (I wish) or girls or friends. But for me, I think it is probably something I can't fix. So last night when I went to his game and because it was a home game, all his friends could come, I knew I had to rein it in. Loud cheering would likely not be appreciated by the boy. When he saw his friends walk in and they called out to him while he was in the pool, I saw him turn around and his face just lit up.

God, I miss that smile sometimes.

So I made it a point not to be the crazy screaming mom on the sidelines. It doesn't hurt that I don't understand a lot of what is going on despite having read the primer on water polo a bunch of times. Here's what I do know:  (1.) The other players are going to drown my son. I must not panic about that. (2.) My son can give as good as he gets. (3.) I have no idea what it is like in the pool so thankfully, I can make no critiques as I have no frame of reference. (4.) I love what this sport does for my son. I love it.