Dear Spike:
You scored four goals in the first game of the season, and another today. And when you're not on the field, you're fearless in the goal.
You're almost always the smallest player on the pitch, but you play as though it doesn't matter.
Because...
...
... it doesn't matter.
Your favorite professional player, Joao Plata, stands 5-foot-3. One of my favorite players, Crystal Dunn, is 5-1.
There's certainly a place for height in this game. Fullbacks are generally advantaged by a few inches. Goalies, too.
But to make pirouettes like a ballerina with with a ball glued to your boot? Height's no advantage there.
Not every sport is like this. Basketball, American football, volleyball — players in these games are all advantaged by a few extra inches or a few extra pounds. But in your game? It doesn't matter.
I thrill at the soccer player you're becoming. And that's the long and short of it.
Love,
dad
You scored four goals in the first game of the season, and another today. And when you're not on the field, you're fearless in the goal.
You're almost always the smallest player on the pitch, but you play as though it doesn't matter.
Because...
...
... it doesn't matter.
Your favorite professional player, Joao Plata, stands 5-foot-3. One of my favorite players, Crystal Dunn, is 5-1.
There's certainly a place for height in this game. Fullbacks are generally advantaged by a few inches. Goalies, too.
But to make pirouettes like a ballerina with with a ball glued to your boot? Height's no advantage there.
Not every sport is like this. Basketball, American football, volleyball — players in these games are all advantaged by a few extra inches or a few extra pounds. But in your game? It doesn't matter.
I thrill at the soccer player you're becoming. And that's the long and short of it.
Love,
dad
