Just Call Me "Soccer Mom"

Well, as much as I'd prefer that my kids pursue a sport other than the sport everyone else we know plays, I might have sealed my fate as a soccer mom by letting not only Cat play soccer this year, but Jack as well.  

The whole team and both coaches on the first day.

The MBA Spouse Association organized a free soccer league for preschool age kids, and I thought Jack would probably enjoy it, so I decided to let him give it a try.  Well.  He didn't just enjoy it.  He LIVED for it.  He asked me every day if he would be playing soccer and was really upset when the answer was "no."  He was actually pretty good at soccer, too, thanks at least in part to seeing so many of Cat's games, I believe.  He did a good job of kicking and staying with the ball and scored several goals over the course of his 6-week season.

Go Team 6!

The set up worked really well.  We met for one hour, one afternoon per week.  All of the kids and coaches warmed up together, then split up into teams.  The teams spent 20-25 minutes doing drills and soccer-ish activities, then the remainder of the time was used to play a game against another team.  The teams took turns supplying a snack and drink for all soccer players at the end of the game.

Warming up enthusiastically - see him running in front of the coach  in the top picture?

 Cat loved having a knowledge of the sport and acting as a third coach for Jack's team - and she was actually pretty helpful!  But after a few weeks she lost interest and chose to play with her friends instead.

The first day - he can't hide the excitement!

 The fields were set up in a large grassy park in Provo, side by side.  The boundaries were drawn only by small orange cones.  Typically, this arrangement worked just fine, however...

Game time!  And NO, the pictures on the right side were NOT posed.

The highlight of Jack's soccer season for me had to be when Jack broke away from the pack and started dribbling the ball toward the sideline... and didn't stop.  He ran through two more soccer fields before the coaches convinced him that he needed to turn around.  Of course, all of the kids on both of the teams had followed him through the other fields, so it took a while to get all 10 kids herded back to our field.  It was truly awesome.  I only wish I had it on video....

Love these guys.

Ben had a class that fell exactly during the soccer time each week, so he missed almost every game.  Luckily, his class only lasted for half of the semester, so he was available to come see Jack's very last game.  Jack was more interested in hanging out with Daddy than playing soccer that day.

Conner & Eliza

Jack was lucky enough to have a private cheering section at one of his games.  Conner was signed up to play on one of the teams, but preferred to hang out on the sidelines, instead.  Eliza didn't mind having another buddy to hang out with!

I'm so proud of this kid.

In the end, this was a great experience for Jack.  It was a friendly, low-key introduction to the game, and I found out with almost no cost (just shin guards and some juice boxes) and a minimal time commitment that Jack really enjoys soccer.  Now we know for the future.

Cat's soccer season began earlier than Jack's, and it didn't get off to a good start.  We were supposed to pick up her uniform before her first game, but when we arrived at the sports complex, something had gone wrong with the shipment, and they didn't have her uniform.  When we left the house, Cat was NOT in soccer clothes, and my first thought was that she would be fine just changing when we arrived and picked up her uniform.  At the last second I had the thought that I should grab her a change of clothes, just in case.  Well, thank goodness I did!

Can you tell how happy she was not to be wearing a uniform??

The fact that she wasn't in uniform dampened her spirits for a little while, but she was able to get over it enough to still play a great game of soccer.

By the end of the game, Cat didn't care so much about not having a uniform to wear.  She even smiled.

Cat showed some real improvement this year over last year.  She scored MANY goals.  In fact, one day Ben told her that if she scored 4 goals during her game, he would get her a pack of Skittles.  She scored 7.  By the end of the fall season, we had to tell her, multiple times, that she needed to share the ball with her teammates.  She could be a bit of a ball hog...

During halftime and water breaks, Jack took the opportunity to get a little practice time in.  Eliza entertained herself a different way.  One day she picked up a rollie pollie and carried it around for about 30 minutes.  She was really upset when we told her that the rollie pollie had to stay at the park and couldn't come home in the car with us! 

 

Cat did a great job in soccer this season.  It's obvious that she really enjoys the sport.  The rec league here begins with a short fall season and continues in the spring, so she will pick up with the same coach and teammates once the weather warms up a bit (hopefully!).  And believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to it.