It really has been fun watching our youngest play soccer this fall. And he truly has been so excited to have a sport of his own to go to for practices and games. He’s lived up having his turn with the celebration plate. And besides the first game (in which he was very cold and a little under weather), pretty much every other game he has looked like this
Smiley and happy….
Our youngest child had his first soccer practice this week.
As I struggled to put him into his shin guards and knee socks and cleats, all while watching him grin from ear to ear, my mind drifted back to going through this same right of passage with his older siblings….
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
Spring 2011
Gosh…. look at all those chubby cheeks and teeny tiny legs chasing after those soccer balls….
September 27th—He’s officially walking.. No longer just two or three steps then fall down, but plodding on his own across a room before he stumbles.
October 7th- 10 days later -
Watch out world! This boy is ready to play.
This spring I have 3 kids in sports. On 3 different teams. This in addition to the girls both taking gymnastics twice a week and Cub Scouts.
We are busy, busy, busy with games and practices most every night… some nights we’re even double booked.
Many people look at my schedule and call me crazy. Why do you do this to yourself?
The answer is, honestly, two fold. 1. We love it.
Finally, she was legally aloud to cross the white line
and she loved every.single. moment!
At the beginning of the half one of the coaches asked if she was ready to stand with her on the side. Her response, “No. I want to play!”
And play, she did… scoring 2 goals! (plus one in the other teams goal)
Her smile truly radiated the entire time she was out there.
Earlier, I alluded to the fact that my daughter finally got it after her first game of soccer. As the season has progressed, she has truly gotten it, indeed!
Here she is getting ready to steal the ball from the pack.
Hmmm… notice a little blocking going on here?
And she goes in for the score!
She did it! I love the look on her face after scoring another goal!
This weekend my daughter had her second soccer game and I am happy to report it went MUCH better than her first. No tears or pouting and lots of smiles and cute waves to Mom and Dad on the sidelines. She enthusiastically went after the ball and always cheerfully raised her hand to kick off or make the corner kick when they asked for volunteers. Like I said, a drastic improvement over game one.
Ever since my son dawned his shin guards and cleats for the first time, his little sister has been eagerly awaiting her opportunity. She’s watched longingly from the sidelines, eagerly taking the field during half time, yearning for her chance to tear up the field. Last fall during his practices, she would call me coach and ask me to assign her drills. I’d have her dribble the ball up and down the field, shooting under a bench as her imaginary goal.