Matt is home! He got home just in time to celebrate his 16th birthday! It was so great to have him home and yet the reasons he came home were sad.He stayed for about three weeks. He had moved up to the A team (the traveling team) so he was planning on a trip to New York and one to Italy in the next few weeks. However, as the days went on, it was obvious, he wasn't happy. The soccer was awesome! In the time he was there, he played the U-17 Mexico team and several colleges. He practiced everyday from 8-12:00 and then was in school from 1-5:00 p.m. However, the environment was awful!! They monitored everything about their physical health to a T! He wore a heart monitor, his weight was checked, daily... We had been skyping in the evenings and as each day went by, he seemed to be losing a little of him each day. The coaches and staff made sure the boys were in bed at a certain time and checked throughout the night, but they had several hours in the evening and the weekend, when they were on their own and pornography was what the boys did! He tried to stay away but when he opened his laptop one day and the boys and left a 'surprise' on his laptap, he knew it was time. He has always been one of mine that has had a tender spirit and very in tune to the Holy Ghost. He knew if he stayed, he would be in trouble. His spirit was struggling and that in turn affected his soccer game. He considered talking with the coaches, but (if they even cared, he didn't think they would) but then if they did, he would be the one who told and then his teammates would make his life miserable, on and off the field. We talked about me going out there to live and maybe getting the coaches to let him live off site with me, but he knew he would be labeled 'mommy's boy' and get the same treatment. He made the final decision and then got prepared to talk with the coaches. They tried to get him to stay until spring break but he felt that he needed to flee as in the Old Testament when David knew he had to flee when Potiphar's wife was after him.
When he came home, he knew that there was a very good possibility that he would be out of soccer forever. He knew the Utah Soccer Association would be very angry. He had been the 1st kid out of Utah, ever to not only be asked for a tryout but to make the team. He knew his club coach would be upset, because he didn't even understand when Matt felt he needed to pray about the decision to go out to Florida. He finally made the phone call to his club coach, and he was not pleased! He told Matt that Utah was a bubble not like the rest of the world. Matt thought, Not Really! Look at my own family and tell me Utah doesn't have problems... But he listened to a very long lecture and then was told he could be back on the team. Of course, it is high school soccer in the Spring, so he won't start playing for them for a few months.
He also showed up for the Real Salt Lake, major league soccer team, tryouts for a U-17 team. It was the first time he would see his ODP coaches and the head guy from Utah. The head guy just walked up to him and slugged him in his arm and told him he was a stupid, stupid kid! None of the coaches agreed with his decision, but they seem to have come to terms with it. He didn't know if they would punish him because of his choice, but it looks like having a kid on the team who was on the National Team made more sense.He made the U-17 Real Salt Lake team and so it looks like he might be back on track for a future with soccer!
