Kids Soccer Tournament with the Japanese School

Its amazing how the body will follow the will; Ihsan woke up at 5 am this morning to get ready for his soccer tournament held at ARC-JAS sports centre. We got there slightly ten to eight and there were already teams of Japanese kids doing their warm-ups.

Our team lost 3-0 in the first game then had a goalless draw. By some fluke, we got through to the next stage as the worst team lost 4-0 in their previous game. The boys played well in their last game, however there was a lack of attacking power. We lost through sudden death penalty when the fourth Japanese player scored a goal.

However, it was not the goals, or lack of it, that made me happy. I was happy when I saw how Ihsan was not upset when he had to be a reserve for the first half of the first game, I was happy how he didn't throw a tantrum and how he stood with his teammates when the penalties came.

In a sense, I was jealous of the fact that he was more driven in soccer than he has ever been for school. He never woke up at 5 and said, " Mum let's have school." How do I awaken in him what soccer had, even when the coach at times order the kids around and he has to put up with the hot sun and physical training?

I missed the second game as Sofiyya was more interested in putting pebbles into an empty water bottle which I gave her after seeing her carrying them from the patch of land beside the shed to me. We were soon joined by Umayr and by the time she was done with it, ok, I persuaded her, there were just a minute or two left of the second goalless game.

When we reached home, everyone was ready to hit the sack. However, I had tuition. God was merciful, somehow the time passed quickly and I finally got my rest. School holiday tomorrow?