What Next

Now we are aware of my boys and their athletic prowess at an early age. What do we do? It is important to remember what age we are talking about. Jordan and his soccer, Devan and his hockey. Jordan is 2yrs older than Devan so early on he was able to train a little harder.

Jordan started practicing really hard when he was about 8yrs old. I did not and still do not have to remind him. He is and was very focused from early on. He wanted to be the best. Jordy, as we like to call him, would wake up by 7:00am on game day and put his uniform on. He would sit there all day dressed and ready for the game. He did the same thing for practice, dressed and ready to play hours before. He would play a game, come home and play for hours more. Didn't matter what sport, he practiced them all. He was very intense and focused for a kid that was only 7-8. His little league coach, a very respected coach in our area, told him after the season that he could go as far as he wanted in baseball. He was that talented. He was already getting noticed.

Devan on the other hand wanted to play hockey and hit baseballs. He would go to his soccer practices and practice hard, but when he got home, he would hit baseballs and shoot hockey pucks,rarely playing catch, he never much cared for the fielding part of the game. I've always said he has the most beautiful swing I've ever seen. Flawless, he could hit the snot out of a baseball. We already know the story about shooting hockey pucks, unbelievable. Unfortunately we did not have the money for him to play ice hockey when he was little (4-6 yrs) so he played t-ball and soccer. He was very good at both, but we always knew he was a hockey player. Think about a kid with hockey blood running through his veins playing soccer and baseball. Yeah, it was as bad as you think. To put it mildly, he was rough. Numerous kids can attest to Devans' aggressive play. He played stopper in soccer, and boy did he stop them. Many a kid left the field bruised and crying after tangling with the D-man. Same story in baseball. Sometimes I believe he intentionally slowed down so he could plow through the second or third basemen. And he was only 5.

The two boys couldn't have been any different in their approach to sports. One relied on force, the other on blazing speed, both very effective. It did, however, make for some very interesting day around the house. Lots of arguments and wrestling matches, it was great!