31 for 21 Day 4: Developmental Soccer

 

As we got closer to the end of the summer this year, Chris and I started discussing what we were going to do with Colin in the fall.  We knew that we wanted him to participate in soccer and were actually hoping that both Colin and Kailey could participate on the same team together on the town soccer league.  Unfortunately, when we started looking into that further, we realized that because of their age difference, they would be playing on separate teams at separate times.  Colin's time wasn't until 1:30 pm and for him, that is a really tough time of the day.  It does not matter what we are doing on any given day but that 1pm hour range typically finds Colin looking tired.  We also just found out this week that Colin is severely anemic (more on that in another post) which contributes to him fatiguing more easily.  

 

We discovered that Special Olympics NJ had a developmental soccer program designed for kids with and without disabilities that was set up clinic style to teach soccer fundamentals.  It was scheduled for 9am which was perfect for Colin so we signed him up. 

Colin has now participated for 3 weeks and seems to be enjoying it.  However, despite the fact that he loves physical activity, particularly anything sport related, he still fatigues easily and needs to take frequent breaks.  Last week was on the warmer side and since he does have a little bit of trouble regulating heat, he seemed to struggle a little bit more.  However, once he gets into a specific activity that he likes, he can last for longer periods of time. 

The program is a great way for Colin to work on his skills and learn how to follow directions from his coaches.  We are looking forward to seeing how Colin progresses through the season. 

 

If you are a NJ resident and are interested in finding out what Special Olympics has to offer, check out their website by clicking here.