One of the dads in our group of friends is a former professional footballer, and he has been coaching for years kids and young adults of all ages.  Since he has a kid in the age that a lot of people start putting kids in football class (16 months, same age as the little guy), he offered to have a football class for our friend group free of charge.

So, off we went to the football class, not knowing what to really expect.  I mean, how much can a small group of 16-21 month-old kids really do/learn in 1 hour?  Turns out, quite a lot!  There is a lot of discipline in all sports, and I think most athletes would agree that having discipline at the core of it all is essential.  So you would not be surprised to hear that the coach took charge of these little people, with the parents backing him up, and by the end, even the wildest of the kids was paying attention and only moving when told to.

Most of this revolved around a simple concept: the line is where you hang out during class, and you get off the line to do an activity, and then you go back there.  So, the coach had all these fun little activities that he would first show them how to do, and then they would follow those instructions while the parents came along and cheered them on.  And then, they went back to the line and sat down.  Activity after activity, the routine was the same, until they just knew that this is what you had to do.

All-in-all I think it was a really great time had by all – parents and children alike.  There was a lot of fun stuff that the kids did that I am interested to see if they will remember next time, and I am also curious to see if they will remember that the line is where you sit and pay attention.  Super interesting to say the least.  And I must say, the little guy was the best one on the field (surely I’m not biased 😉 ).