This month’s cover story is about the Ojeda family’s summer vacation. The Skye Canyon residents visited Ireland, but not necessarily just to see the sights.
They went to watch daughter Obriella play in an international soccer tournament.
Obriella, an eighth grader at Somerset Academy Skye Canyon, was one of only two Las Vegas players from a pool of about 400 players from around the United States. She plays for a local team called the Las Vegas Heat Surf, which is part of Surf Soccer Nation.
The world of competitive youth sports is something I’m very familiar with. My son played club baseball and my daughter played travel softball.
One of the good things about these sports, first when we lived in Phoenix and then when we moved to Las Vegas, was that there wasn’t necessarily a lot of actual travel involved, as there were plenty of local teams and tournaments.
But even though we didn’t have to go across the globe to compete, it was still a lot of time and money.
One of the things I always like to talk about was my son’s 13U season of club baseball in Arizona. Between weekend tournaments and a league, he played more than 100 games between August and June. That’s a lot, and I went to every single game… not to mention all the practices.
The best thing, though, was that I didn’t have to force him to go to practice or play. In fact, on off days he would grab my glove and force me out to the backyard or the park for a game of catch or to shag fly balls.
I never set lofty goals of him playing professionally, although he did play with at least three kids who have played or are currently playing in the major leagues. I just wanted him to make his high school team.
My daughter started in soccer, but moved on to softball when she reached middle school.
She became a pitcher, starting in rec ball and then moving up to travel ball when she turned 12. Her “Lil’ Rebels” team went to a big tournament called the Sparkler in Denver and made it to the finals.
But she stopped playing before her sophomore season of high school, after I had a major health scare.
These sports experiences helped make them the people they are today.
— Kirk Kern