This kid found the perfect way to practice soccer during social distancing

Being an only child sucks sometimes. It means often having to play by yourself, especially when your parents are busy being adults. It means having no one immediately available to watch movies or play sports with, or even just talk to.

It can be a lonesome existence.

Thankfully this is a world full of team sports and group activities. Kids can get out there with their friends and play from sunup until sundown and ...

Oh, wait. That was then. This is now. Kids without siblings are kids stuck at home without people to play with during the coronavirus pandemic. Schools are closed down. Sports seasons are being postponed and canceled.

What is an active child supposed to do when they can’t even go and train in their favorite sport to prepare for the season?

Let’s use soccer as an example. As a goalie, it takes a lot of shots to begin to learn the nuances of a ball. How it bounces. How it rolls. How it drifts with spin. The only way to do that is to face shots coming right at you, learning lessons with each goal scored against you and boosting confidence with each kick stopped.

For one young goalkeeper, being unable to get out and practice with his team is just not acceptable. So he found a new opponent to train against — himself, with a fence in his yard as his teammate.

This lonely footballer figured out that if he kicked the ball against the fence, he would have just enough time to get himself into position to attempt a diving save as the ball fired back at the net. Using a fence with uneven boards like the one in his yard gives him the extra level of difficulty with the unpredictability of the ball as it bounces irregularly or even higher or lower than expected.

Besides, it’s likely this kid had no idea what a good goalscorer he could be. Did you see the way he snuck that second shot into the far corner, just out of the reach of his own hands? That combination of goal-stopping AND goalscoring ability? Dangerous.

Being an only child definitely has its difficulties, as does being the only person at soccer practice. But once social distancing is over and normal life resumes, there’s going to be one goalie who is ready to face his opponents thanks to some ingenuity and a fenced-in yard.