All I have to do is chill

So I have a son that's played soccer for ten years, club soccer for five. I played most of my life, not high level soccer, but competitively. At first I coached my son, then elected to pay the fees for academy and select. Like his dad, my son is evidently going to be a late bloomer. Now he is smaller and suddenly slower than almost everyone on the team.

I spoke to his coach today, who is a great guy with great outlook on coaching kids. The topic started on something unrelated but naturally gravitated to the team and my son. He said something that my wife has tried to say lately.. But I never heard it until today.

See, lately I have avoided talking soccer with my son, intending to not add pressure and drive him away from the game out of spite. I have sensed that and I hope like crazy it doesn't happen. I used to dissect every touch and we talked about it endlessly, but it only seemed to make him unhappy. So I stopped. And that helped.

Today, as I lamented to the coach that my son is at a disadvantage now due to physical maturity.. The coach said "but he has great feet, and he understands and reads the game very well.. And he will eventually grow - so don't worry about it". His response was what I needed to hear. It was spot on.

So now all I have to do is chill and enjoy watching. Apologies to my wife, but today's conversation with the coach was an epiphany for me.

Chill with me people.