Leslie Arietta
Dribble! Pass! Shoot! Little kickers are on the move towards goal and no one can stop them. Saturday morning, September 26th the women’s soccer team of Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) volunteered to coach at the Grady T. Wallace Soccer Complex.
There were two groups of Little Kickers, U3 group at 10am and U4 group at 11am. The TAMUT soccer team arrived early to set up the different drills the Little Kickers would be doing. Three drills consisted of dribbling, passing, and shooting. The U3 group started to sign in and put on their new Little Kickers shirt before they were split up into groups, boys on one side and girls on the other.
It was time to get started and the TAMUT soccer team had its hands full with the little ones running around and having fun. Some of the kids were energetic and others were shy and took a while to participate. Each kid had the chance to develop skills with the ball. The kids got thirsty and worked up a sweat so in between drills they got water breaks. The most successful station was shooting on goal. Most of the kids were engaged and ready to make a goal.
The U3 session came to an end and the U4 group were slowly arriving. The TAMUT soccer team had just enough time to reorganize, get some water, and modify the drills. Since shooting on goal was the most successful point for the U3 group they decided to incorporate passing and dribbling towards goal for the U4 group. These techniques kept the U4 group more involved and organized. This group had a little more experience than the U3 and got through the drills a lot more smoothly. The Little Kickers session was a success. TAMUT women’s soccer team gave back their knowledge and skills to the community and will continue to coach the Little Kickers.
I happened to run into a coach that afternoon and he mentioned how great it was to have TAMUT out there working with the kids. Great job!