Feisty Sprite

Sicily started playing soccer this spring.

Sicily learned that she does not like soccer this spring.

Sicily is overly aggressive. The kind of person who will walk up to you and punch you in the arm just to say hello. Not because she's mean, she's just feisty. She hits you with a smile and expects that you'll shove her right back. She's like a lion cub.

She's also highly competitive. She has to win at board games. The words "graceful loser" don't register at all with her. She once told me that she should have been the first child but the other two pushed her out of the way so that they could come first. And she's been shoving them back ever since, trying to win back her rightful place. (There's a life lesson there. I'm sure of it.)

Given that naturally aggressive, competitive nature, Sicily should have loved organized sports. But here's the thing about a strong-willed, feisty sprite: she only wants to fight on her terms, not because she's told to.

And so, she would rather not run around in a mob after a silly ball, thank you very much. She's strong and has a naturally good kick, so her coach is constantly prompting her to act. Which she does, kind of. She runs after the mob for a minute, gets herself to the middle, and gives the ball a good solid kick. Then she stops and lets the rest of the team chase after the ball she just kicked. Meanwhile she stands around waiting until they come back her way. Then she gives the ball another good kick and sends the other kids flying after the ball again. It's more like swatting flies than playing soccer. While she's waiting, she checks out her nails or digs holes in the field with her cleats. Then when the game is over she lines up the ball and kicks a perfect goal, just because she can and because no one expected her too. Oh, my feisty little sprite.

So maybe soccer's not for her. But the girl needs some kind of aggression outlet. The rest of us don't have the personality of a lion cub and we're all tired of the bruises. Maybe karate is more her thing. Or maybe I'll just get her a punching bag for her room.