I never liked kids. I am the youngest of my siblings, I had never held a baby until I was 23. I used to say I was extremely afraid of kids, and somehow they would be attracted to me. They would come with their big eyes and crazy needs and comments. I just couldn't take it. When I graduated from college I got a job as a soccer coach. It was the only thing I had experience on. For my biggest fear, my boss asked me to work in this program called "Sweet Feet". It was my worse nightmare. I had to coach any soccer for 2-8 years old kids. I did an awful job in the beginning, I couldn't talk to them, everything was so hard, it was exhausting. Each session only last for 45 minutes but it was the longest 45 minutes of my life. However, my boss was the kindest person ever. At some point I started coaching older kids and slowly moving up the ladder. Then finally, I felt in LOVE (pic bellow of my first tournament).
It was like I meant to be there. They brought back my passion for the sports and daily taught me how to be a better person. I have been coaching for four years now and I had the luck to have the best mentors and bosses ever. They taught me about development and educating human beings. The importance of professionalism and organization. Taught me how to be patient with kids and understand that we, as educator, have no clue whats going on their lives, and we should try our hardest not to take personal. My life now is all about my little humans.
Guess what? 3 years later I could finally run a program for 6-8 years old ( the age I fear the most)!! We rock! I couldn't had done that if I didnt have my mentors to constantly guide me.
No comments:
Post a Comment