SB brought back a lacrosse stick for me from his trip back home so we spent a few hours throwing a ball back and forth on Saturday. I had not wielded a lacrosse stick in three years so my forearm and side were very sore yesterday.
Later SB and I ran a few defensive drills. They were mostly for his benefit because women's lacrosse does not allow such contact to my chagrin. In ice hockey you can have the option of playing with or without contact and I wish that women had the option of playing with men's rules. We had a fun time with SB dodging back and forth while I lightly checked him with my stick.
As we were running back and forth a man with a heavy Scottish accent came running up to us to ask, "Is that lacrosse?" He was practically reaching for my stick so I handed it over to him. "This is a girl's stick," I told him, trying to explain the differences in the pocket and how you can't do a windup like with the male sticks. Then I realized that it didn't matter because he probably had no prior experience. He and SB tossed the ball back and forth; he was impressive using it for the first time and I wondered what previous sports he had played so that his coordination was so good. Maybe ice hockey?
Later another family came over to observe and I offered my stick to the children to play with. The little boy was very pleased but his older sister shook her head and hid behind her mother. It caused me to wonder if that behavior was innate or learned? I have friends whose children do the same thing and it is so often that the boys will be bold and the girls will hide. But yet when the children are very young they are equally shy or bold. With the six year olds that play rugby they are equally bold and timid but in the general population I notice a gender division in behavior and I can't imagine that we would teach our kids to be shy on purpose.
Later SB and I ran a few defensive drills. They were mostly for his benefit because women's lacrosse does not allow such contact to my chagrin. In ice hockey you can have the option of playing with or without contact and I wish that women had the option of playing with men's rules. We had a fun time with SB dodging back and forth while I lightly checked him with my stick.
As we were running back and forth a man with a heavy Scottish accent came running up to us to ask, "Is that lacrosse?" He was practically reaching for my stick so I handed it over to him. "This is a girl's stick," I told him, trying to explain the differences in the pocket and how you can't do a windup like with the male sticks. Then I realized that it didn't matter because he probably had no prior experience. He and SB tossed the ball back and forth; he was impressive using it for the first time and I wondered what previous sports he had played so that his coordination was so good. Maybe ice hockey?
Later another family came over to observe and I offered my stick to the children to play with. The little boy was very pleased but his older sister shook her head and hid behind her mother. It caused me to wonder if that behavior was innate or learned? I have friends whose children do the same thing and it is so often that the boys will be bold and the girls will hide. But yet when the children are very young they are equally shy or bold. With the six year olds that play rugby they are equally bold and timid but in the general population I notice a gender division in behavior and I can't imagine that we would teach our kids to be shy on purpose.
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