Positive goal differentials

Most of Elliott’s friends who are still enthusiastic about soccer play for Academy teams. These days kids are pressed early on to either be dedicated athletes or former athletes. To me it seems a big life decision for someone who still needs help cutting his waffles, but it’s just the way it is.

Parents pay wads of money for expert coaching and three or four training sessions a week. (Serious practice is called “training,” by the way). Elliott played on an Academy team for one season and quickly learned he didn’t want to train that much. Nor did he relish forfeiting his entire weekend to tournaments in places like Fayetteville any more than we did.