Soccer Saturdays

This is a very exciting time, indeed. This fall we have Spencer, Tyler, and Ella all playing soccer. It makes things a little...well, interesting I will say! We have practices every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, and then of course the three 1 hour games spread out across the day each Saturday. I have to admit that we have been a little frightened by this prospect, and have actually been dreading it a little bit. Well...no more!! The kids each had their first games this past Saturday, and it was so incredibly fun! First of all, look at that little Ella! She had the funnest time, and did not stop smiling the entire game. And she ran her little heart out! But listen to this! ALL THREE KIDS SCORED A GOAL IN THEIR GAMES!!!! I was hoarse by the days end, due to all the cheering I was doing on the sidelines. It was so exciting. I'll give you a brief play by play, and then you can see some of the action for yourselves. First came Spencer's game. Spencer has played a couple of seasons of soccer in the past, but he's really never been an animal on the field. In any sport. He's always been too timid to really be aggressive enough to hold his own. But as we've been watching him practice soccer this season, it really seemed that he was pretty darn good. And not real nervous or timid out there. So anyway, he is playing his first game in years and the coach puts him in as right forward. He is really doing awesome out there! He is dribbling and passing and running...really tearing it up! And then his team gets a free kick. His teammate kicks it to Spencer, and Spence just wails on it! Right in the net! He was so shocked that it took him a minute to realize what had happened. He looked over at us, with this shocked look on his face, and of course we were jumping up and down like a couple of wild animals. It was so great and memorable. I don't think he'll ever forget the day of his first goal. Very cool. Unfortunately I was not filming at the time (I know! I'm so mad at myself!), but I did have Spencer re-live the moment on film. So here is his c0mmentary.
Next came Ella's goal. Little peanut!! I was so worried that she would be too shy to even get on the field, but she ran straight out there. She loved running around after the pack, and if she got near the ball she would kick and kick and kick! And as I mentioned, she had the biggest grin on her face the entire game. I hope you can see it in this video! So onto her goal - she got the ball, broke away from the pack, and dribbled it right into the net. Little sweetie. She was so proud, and so were we.
Now on to Tyler. No pressure for poor Tyler! He has just watched as his brother and sister both scored goals in their games, and so he was feeling like he would break the streak unless he scored. Of course we assured him that scoring goals is not the most important thing, and that frankly they don't really happen that often. And of course it has been two years since Tyler has played his one and only season of soccer, so we didn't know what to expect. Oh my word...that kid is an animal!!! He is fast, tough, aggressive, and he does not slow down. He was in on almost every single play that took place out there. They don't really stress "staying in your position" at his age yet, so he was all over the place. Defending, throwing in, dribbling up the field, taking shots in the goal. He did it all. At one point his coach asked him, "Now, how many years have you been playing soccer??" Tyler says, "Only one time, two years ago." Wow. He was awesome out there. Well, after a few near misses into the goal, he got his chance to take his team's free kick (after the other team touched the ball with their hands). He faces that human wall without an ounce of fear, and puts it right in. The goalie deflected it, but it still went in the corner of the net. Woo hoo!!

And I am going to make a blanket apology for my screaming and cheering on the sidelines - and I assure you that you're not seeing the worst of it - but I love to cheer on my kids, and I'm sorry if that's annoying to anyone around me. But I love soccer and I love those cuties out there. But I do wish that the video, which of course I'm taking, didn't pick up all of it. Oh well. It was a fantastic day, and the season has only just begun!