We enrolled Sierra in a soccer class for 3 to 3 1/2 year olds sponsored by the City of Palo Alto. This was her first time to participate in any sort of organized sporting activity, and quite a contrast to the self directedness of her Montessori preschool.
Each of the eight sessions lasted for thirty minutes and was held on successive Saturday mornings. A half hour seems short for a class until you see three dozen preschoolers participate in one; the coaches did well to hold their attention even this long.
The class was built around a series of drills culminating in scrimmages in the last couple of classes. The initial goal was to get them comfortable with kicking the ball. (Sierra had an interesting take on the “no hands” rule; during the first class she would pick up the ball using her elbows). Following kicking, they progressed to dribbling the ball towards a target and then to shooting.
All the kids seemed to enjoy the classes, including Sierra. In the background of the video can be heard some incipient soccer parents voicing frustration that their child would not drive on the opposing goal like a pint size David Beckham. Games within the game start young.