AZ Soccer Camp

It's summer time again! This means summer camp time! I just got back from soccer camp in Prescott, AZ, where it's a little bit cooler than here in Phoenix area. I did this camp for 2 or 3 days last July, but this time, I was there for 2 weeks. To be honest, it was very tiring. But at the same time, it was fun!! Being around about 150 kids was FUN!! The youngest kids were 8 and the oldests were 13 or 14. There were some trouble makers, some crazy, some funny, but they were all good kids and fun kids.

This year, unlike last year's camp in Wisconsin, was a little easier and less crazier. There were not many kids who got hurt and they did not keep me too busy. Yeah, they did give me enough to do though. I had to deal with some homesick kids who were crying in the middle of night. I had to take care of kids who really got sick and had a fever. I had to take care of injured kids as well. Again this year just like last year, it was sometimes hard to get to know all of the kids. I did get to know some of them who came to me almost everyday. And I really enjoyed spending time with them.

To me, it is not so hard to take care of injuries. Most of the times, I can find out what may be wrong with it and do what needs to be done. But each kid is different. They react differently and they express differently. Some may easily get traumatised even when the injury is not so serious. I need to be careful what I say. Some kids are more sensitive than others. I think taking care of children as a child kind of requires you to be back as a child. You need that heart and mind that children have to understand them. Sometimes, I feel like as an adult we have lost lots of things that we used to have when we were kids. That really makes me sad. As we grew up, we left pieces of childness behind. Everytime I work with kids, I wish that they would not lose that. Look at their smile, for example, their smile has something that we don't have in it. It seems so much brighter and purer and more transparent. They all come from different backgrounds, different family, etc. But when they smile, that means one thing, happiness.

I am going to say this one more time, I know there is no perfection that exists in this world. But I truly think that kids' smile is perfect because it is a perfect gift from God. And everytime I get a chance to work with kids, I re-realize that I LOVE kids!! I can't wait to go back there again for one more camp session in July.