Cat's Soccer Season

(originally published February 25th, 2016)

Cat played soccer in 1st grade and 2nd grade, then when it was time to sign up for the soccer season in 3rd grade we didn't know where we would be living, so we skipped that year.  In 4th grade, she decided she didn't want to be on a soccer team.  She played a lot of soccer at school, though, and still had fun with it.  At the end of 4th grade, Cat had a friend who was on a state-level competitive soccer team and they were looking for a couple more players.  They were having an open practice, then tryouts, and Lily asked Cat if she wanted to try out.  Cat liked the idea of playing with her friend and being on a competitive team, so she decided to go for it.  Cat played well at the tryout, but it was evident that the girls who had been on actual soccer teams continuously were better ball-handlers.  Cat didn't make it.

There was still an opportunity to try out for a district-level competitive soccer team, but Cat decided to just play on a normal rec team instead.  We got her signed up and she went to the "training camp" that the rec department puts on every summer.  While she was there, a coach spotted her and approached us about having her attend an open practice for his district-level competitive soccer team.  He coaches his daughter's team and was scouting for a couple more girls.  Cat was immediately interested, and after attending a couple of their practices was asked to join the team.

This really has been a great fit for Cat, so everything worked out for the best. This team is much more disciplined than the teams Cat played with at the rec level, and the coach has high expectations for each of the players.  He's good at pushing them physically and building them up mentally.

At the beginning of the season, the team needed a goalie.  I encouraged Cat to give it a try, telling her that Uncle Andy played goalie on his college soccer team.  She decided to try it out and did pretty well.  Her two seasons of softball might have helped her reflexes, the assistant coach said.  So Cat became the 2nd string goalie for her team, and did pretty well.  Her team being in control of the ball most of the time and Cat being a girl of action... let's just say that she had more fun when she was playing other positions.  She spent a good amount of time at the goal in this pose:

But she did enjoy booting drop kicks as far as she could.

Sometimes she made a good dive for the ball (even though this one went over the goal).

Cat's favorite position, and where she spent most of her time, was forward.  She's fast and she's a good ball handler and scored in most of the games, even scoring two goals a couple of times and three goals once.  She and another girl were so quick and aggressive that the coach nicknamed them The Wild Horses.  Cat loved that.

Is it just me, or does she just look like she's built for soccer?

Something else that Cat loved was being one of the team captains.  (She's the second one from the right.)

Even though Cat's team was really good and fun to watch, the younger kids would usually wander over to the trees or an empty field to play once our snacks ran out.  And they were always happy when Daddy arrived.  So was I, even if i didn't run up to him and jump on his back.

Cat's team was not only undefeated but they gave up only 11 goals in 10 games, versus the 38 goals they scored.  The coach and his wife surprised everyone by bringing silly string for the parents to spray on the girls when they finished their final game of the fall season.  Daddy insisted that we further celebrate with ice cream.

In addition to their practices and games in the fall, they had some extracurricular activities as well.  They were ball girls at a UVU women's soccer game, they attended a BYU women's soccer game together, and they helped with a big service project for the Utah Down's Syndrome Foundation.

This team has been great for Cat.  They have continued to practice during the winter, once a week in the coach's half-field sized basement practice room.  The spring season will be starting before long and it'll be fun to see what this team does.