After the good response to last fortnight's guest blog, and in an effort to give more insight into the people involved in the club, this fortnight's blog is written by a Giffnock SC parent.
Saturday mornings at Giffnock Soccer Centre….a military operation!
By Anna-Marie Taylor
Chaos! That’s the word that sums up our house on a Saturday
morning. With three kids at the Giffnock
Soccer Centre all training on a Sat morning, what other word could be used to
describe it? It’s like a military operation, one parent focuses on getting the
kids up and eating their breakfast whilst the other gets the strips, shinpads,
shoes, coats, de-ices the car, finds the car keys as well as shouting orders
about the itinerary for the day. But alongside chaos, I would also add
excitement, fun and lots of laughter as the kids all look forward to an hour of
learning new skills and playing with their team mates.
I thought I’d turn this blog into a “top tips” for all those
Mums and Dads out there with more than one child at the club, here’s my tips on
how to make it run a bit more smoothly…
My 6 Top Tips
1.
Always put the strips in the wash on a
Saturday morning straight after training.
Many a Sat morning is spent looking for shorts, tops, shin pads etc at
8.50am down the back of the sofa, under the bed, in the bottom of the wardrobe
and inevitably one sock is found but the other has been lost, never to be found
again. I swear my washing machine eats
socks!
2. Strips and boots should be looked out on a
Fri night. Yes, we all do it, we get home from work on a Fri, order a
pizza, open a bottle of wine and think, telly on, feet up and relax! The thought of “looking out” the football
gear is pushed to the back of your mind.
Well let’s just say if you don’t, that leads to the chaos of point no 1
on a Sat morning and is further hindered when you’ve got that fuzzy wine head!
3. If you have 2 or more kids, make sure their
strips are put away together in their age/size bundles! It doesn’t really help if your 10 year old
goes to training in your 5 year olds shorts!
4. Aim to leave 15mins before you intend to. If your 5 year old is playing at 9 make sure
you are ready to go at 8.40 otherwise when you get that call “I need a poo” at
8.39 you’ve got time to spare!
5. Be there 15mins before the end of the game. Not every parent/carer can stay to watch
their children play every week (especially if they have more than one child) but
try and arrive early and watch their games, so when they say “Dad, did you see
that amazing over the head, back flip shot that went into the top corner at the
back of the net”, you can honestly say, yes son/daughter, it was truly amazing!
6. And most importantly, if one parent is not
going to be around to help out on the Sat morning – do NOT drink on the Friday
night, otherwise it’s carnage!!
The best time is when they all
get home, the hot chocolates are made and they are talking about their
morning. It’s great to listen to them
dissecting the game and talking about the fun they had, what new things their
coaches told them to practise for next week and what their friends did, which
makes the “chaos” of the morning all worthwhile!
Anna-Marie Taylor is Mum to Jack,
Harry and Rory (aged 10, 8 & 5 respectively) who are all members of
Giffnock Soccer Centre.
Would you like to write an article for our blog? Get in touch with me at giffnocksc.footballdev@gmail.com
I enjoyed reading this, much of it is stuff I've never had to consider as a coach.
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