| FUTURE in FOCUS |
By: Carey Schumacher
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| Posted: Monday, August 30, 2010 11:22 am |
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There comes a time in every young person's life when friends' influence surpasses the parents' impact on every day decisions. Sometimes this happens as early as 3rd or 4th grade, sometimes as late as high school or even college, but this significant transition usually comes along in 7th or 8th grade.
My son, Matthew, just started 6th grade, and my husband and I can sense that the inevitable "power shift" is coming. Since we call Matt our "social butterfly," we know his friends will soon have much more impact on his decisions than they do now. He's also been asking vague questions about college lately ("Where would I sleep?" "What classes would I have?" "Where would I eat?" "When are soccer practices?"), but it was obvious to us that he didn't have a very clear vision of life after high school. Knowing that our opinions and guidance would be losing their potency soon, we decided to take a day with him to help him foster a clearer picture of the future he says he wants -- playing soccer in college. Matt has attended soccer camps before, and the camps at NCAA college campuses are fabulous, but we wanted to spend time at a campus as a family.
Despite Matt's lack of understanding when it comes to college life, he does know one thing for sure right now: He wants to play soccer at UCLA. He has always enjoyed hearing my yesteryear stories about college life at UCLA, but his love of Bruin soccer hit a growth spurt last year when we went to watch UCLA play SDSU on the San Diego State campus. Since that warm afternoon last year, the questions about college and UCLA have gradually increased, so when we had a soccer-free weekend, we snatched the opportunity and headed North to Westwood.
Before I continue, a confession: I realize that getting into UCLA is not easy, and I know that playing soccer at UCLA is a longshot. But that Brian Littrell quote comes to mind: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." Our objective was not to fill Matt's head with dreams but to bring his aim into focus.
As we drove North, we talked about different colleges. My husband researched stats on his phone: degrees offered, student population, campus location, on and on. We talked about how different colleges are known for different strengths. UCSD is well-known for their science and computer programs. UCLA is a sports powerhouse and has a great medical school, too. USC's film school is top-notch, and their business school is highly acclaimed. The discussion roamed from topic to topic, from high school to college and beyond, and I remember laughing when Matt proclaimed, "I don't want to go to a geeky school like Yale!"
We arrived on campus and drove through the campus a bit before parking in a lot near the science buildings. I specifically chose a parking lot away from the student union and sports areas so that we'd have to walk through academic areas before we got to the "fun spots." Matt was very interested in the classrooms, and we peeked into a few inside the Math building. He enjoyed listening to us describe how students spend their time studying in the common areas between classes, and he was entertained by the fliers on the bulletin boards offering cash in exchange for science experimentation.
Once we left the science buildings, we headed towards the center of campus while I pointed out my old jogging routes. Our next stop was the bookstore so Matt could pick out some UCLA gear while my husband and I tried not to have a heart attack after looking at text book prices. In a serendipitous moment, two athletic young men crossed Matt's path, and one of them was wearing a "BRUINS SOCCER" training shirt. They both noticed Matt juggling his soccer ball among the racks of T-shirts, and I noticed their unmistakable "soccer player" appearance. I asked them if they were on the UCLA soccer team, and both faces lit up with huge smiles as they said yes and stopped to talk for a bit. They were both freshmen -- Reed Williams had been recruited out of his Corona Del Mar high school, and Kelyn Rowe came from Seattle. Their Bruin Pride was practically oozing from every pore as they described their difficult training schedule and excitedly admitted that they might have their freshmen heads shaved at that night's soccer team party. They invited us to the athletic fields to watch an inter-squad scrimmage later that day, and they posed for a cell phone picture with Matt.
We had an hour or so before the scrimmage, so we wandered through the student union a bit more. While I privately marveled at the poise, maturity, and kindness of the young men we'd just met, Matt fell in love with the video gaming area and the "Gaming Tournament" fliers on the door. After another short walk through the campus buildings, we arrived at practice area. The athletic fields were scorching hot, but Matt didn't seem to mind as we chose a spot on the bleachers to watch the soccer team. They began with familiar warm-up, stretching, and possession drills, but the pace and strength had Matt enthralled.
"Will I be that fast and that strong when I get older, mom?" he asked. I told him I had no doubt -- if he keeps training and keeps his body healthy,
"Does it look like they're having fun?" I asked him. Matt looked around at the players, shifting his focus from their strength and speed to their attitudes. Every player was concentrating on their drill, but every player was also clearly enjoying himself. "That's just as important as being fast and strong," I told him. These boys in front of us were fast, strong, fit, and they were enjoying every moment on that grass.
The scrimmage ended with Kelyn & Reed's team winning 2-0 (Kelyn scored, much to Matt's delight), and Matt couldn't stay off the grass any longer. He took to the field -- juggling, dribbling, and shooting. I gave in to his requests and played keeper for him without my goalie gloves, even though the last time had resulted in some significant joint damage earlier this year. While Matt was shooting, a Bruin soccer player made his way down the sideline towards my husband. I saw the two of them talking, and Matt and I joined them when the groundskeepers were wrapping up their post-game routine. Matt Wiet introduced himself to me and young Matt, explaining that he'd just transferred from Ohio. After we talked for a while, Big Matt walked us over to the UCLA athletics Hall of Fame and said goodbye (after another cell phone picture, of course!). It was clear that the UCLA soccer team is full of class acts -- young men who are polite, courteous, kind, and passionate about soccer.
The UCLA Hall of Fame was nothing short of amazing. I'm not a big fan of museums, but we all could have stayed there for hours! Every NCAA Championship trophy was there -- over 100 of them -- and every sport had an in-depth display with old uniforms, pictures, gear, and awards. The 1930's football helmets and uniforms were marvelous. We learned that if UCLA were a country, it would rank #5 in Olympic gold medals!
Once we finished browsing the Hall of Fame, we headed back to the student union area to relax with some refreshments. We purchased pure joy for Matt at the bargain price of $1.25 and let him play for thirty minutes in "Game On," the video gaming area he'd been admiring earlier. My husband and I agreed that the time in the classroom buildings was well spent -- otherwise Matt would easily and happily believe college is all about video games and soccer!
I'm not sure how often we heard, "I WANT TO GO TO UCLA!" but it was, by far, the most common sentence heard that day, with "I want to play soccer at UCLA!" coming in a close second. Will Matt end up at UCLA after he graduates from high school in 2017? I really don't know. When I was in 5th and 6th grade, I was obsessed with the University of Florida, but I never even applied to the school. Even if he ends up losing his desire to be a UCLA Bruin, he's still been given a glimpse of what college is like and what it takes to get there.
Carey is an Albion SC mom. Her son, Matthew, plays for Ryan Carruth on the Boys U12 red team.
You can read more of her soccer mom musings at http://www.farpostblog.com/ |
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