“Little Messi” is Ready

Another fútbol season begins and “Little Messi” is ready.Although “ready” doesn’t necessarily mean “ambitious.” It appears from some early practices that Lola is still tentative on the field. The game hasn’t quite “clicked” with her yet. Her lack of desire to “get in there” and get the ball does have the benefit of allowing her to spread the field a bit and her non-threatening demeanor means she easily gets open for the pass. But she waits for the game to come to her most of the time and then quickly gets intimidated when it does.But. She does not complain about twice-weekly practices or wishes she did not have to play in this weekend’s seeding tournament. She runs the drills, listens to coach, and mostly seems to have a good time. (Except when she gets blasted in the head or body by a near-range kick, which has happened on several occasions.) And coach says that parents need patience and to keep encouraging their players. So we’ll keep going as long as she’s getting the exercise and team-playing experience out of it.Go Green Starz!Btw, the “Little Messi” moniker came about because Lionel Messi was Lola’s favorite player during the World Cup. Maybe she feels a connection through their shared physical stature. She’s (somewhat) excited about the start of La Liga this weekend. In fact, out of the blue the other day she asked for his Barcelona jersey. If you want to get her riled up, tell her some other player is better than Messi. My favorite is Neymar Jr. so that’s always a fun conversation. We were at a sports bar the other night and they had a large wooden plaque with the names of “Soccer Legends” and Messi was listed second only to Pele. But she was still indignant at the slight. I tried to explain to her the enormity of Pele but she wasn’t having it. Kids these days. They got no appreciation of the sport’s elders. :-p