For 14 years, my wife, Sally, and I would spend most of our fall weekends at soccer venues across the state following our younger son, Andrew.

Our falls now have a void as he is pursuing a degree and the sun as a freshman at a college in Florida.

It all began on the wind-swept soccer fields on the former Dow Air Force Base when he was in kindergarten and concluded with a heart-breaking 2-0 loss to eventual state champ Lawrence of Fairfield in the Eastern Maine Class A semifinals last October.

For the first three years of youth soccer, it was The Swarm.

As a coach, you would get hoarse hollering “Spread out, play your positions.”

Childhood exuberance took over. Your words were muted.

In time, you learned to chuckle at the 12 players within three feet of the ball.

You realized that they were having fun and that was the primary objective in the initial stages.

And it was a wonderful source of entertainment.

You would try to develop their skills and their understanding of the game during the practices. You would try to make the drills fun. But you also made sure they scrimmaged because, after all, that’s why they signed up.

They wanted to play, not just practice. As they get older, The Swarm shrinks until it is virtually nonexistent.

The beauty of soccer is that size isn’t essential and hard work is rewarded. A youngster willing to put in extra time developing his or her skills can attain reachable goals, especially if they’re aggressive.

If your son or daughter gets involved in travel soccer, you get the opportunity to be involved in some wonderful tournaments down-state.

Cumberland, Falmouth, and Sanford have impressive multi-field complexes and well-organized youth tournaments which highlighted the calendar.

Maybe the Bangor area will someday have such a complex so it can host tournaments. There are plenty of fields in the Bangor area, but they are spread out.

These road trips to tournaments also allow you to develop a camaraderie with the other parents.

Soccer, or any sport for that matter, becomes more competitive when your child reaches middle school and high school.

They are faced with the prospect of having to make the team. The day when the final cuts are made can be very tense.

As a parent, you prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

It can be the best of times or the worst of times.

It is a character-builder for parents and their children. You have to learn to deal with failures and successes in life as well as sports.

Although we don’t have the passion for soccer in this country that they have in Europe and South America, primarily because there isn’t enough scoring, the passion is intensifying.

Watching your child participate in an activity, whether it be sports, theater, dance, scouting, whatever, is one of life’s great joys.

The joy derived from watching our older son, Mike, in school plays was equivalent to the joy attained from attending Andrew’s soccer games.

Encourage your children to get involved in extra-curricular activities. It makes them more well-rounded.

And it certainly helps on a college resume.

Cherish watching your children participate in various activities. The time flies by.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.