Cat's Record-Breaking Freshman Soccer Season

Cat finished out the season strong!  During the regular season she tied the school record for most goals in a season with 23 goals.

When the regular season was over, there was a parent-vs-player game.  I don't play soccer, so I didn't participate, but there was a good turnout despite the very cold weather.  I brought the kids over to watch for a bit and they bundled up with one of Cat's friends.  We arrived just in time for Cat to sit out for a break, also bundling up with a friend.

The team had a bye for the first round of the playoffs, but in the next game, against Delta, at Delta, who beat them both times during the regular season, Cat scored twice, breaking the school scoring record, AND set a new record for quickest goal when she scored 13 seconds into the game.  We won 2-1!  It was awesome!

Ben traveled to the game - do you see him standing up and watching in the background?

The next game - the quarterfinals round - was against Manti, the dominant team in the league, and it was a disappointing defeat.  It was a cold and windy day but the girls played really hard, and the fact that Manti went on to win the state championship cushioned the blow a bit.

The other kids played football and took advantage of the wind when they weren't eating snacks or watching soccer.

When soccer was officially over for the year, the coach had a banquet for the JV and Varsity players combined (they'd practiced, traveled, watched, and played together since the summer) and talked about each individual player and her unique contributions.

Cat got a second shout-out, and a plaque for breaking the school scoring school record.  (I laughed to myself at the beginning of the season when Cat scored twice in the first game and the parent of an older player said, "My daughter broke the freshman scoring record two years ago with 6 goals, then another player broke it last year with 7 goals.  I wonder if Cat will continue the trend?"  I thought, "Of course she will."  She'd scored 10 goals by the end of the 5th game.)  The big record Cat ultimately broke was set by a senior whose name is still spoken with reverence by school soccer fans.

The banquet consisted of various away-game-bus-ride foods, including tons of sweets.  The speeches from coach and the team captains got to be so long and Luke got to be so bored that I eventually told him to count the number of chocolate chips in his oversized cookie.  It kept him occupied for a couple of minutes.

This year was really special for Cat.  It was different.  Cat's coach was great at teaching soccer skills, but also at teaching life lessons (ask Cat about Plank Day next time you see her) and creating a positive (fun) environment for physical, mental, and spiritual growth and development.  He also insisted that all the players on both teams ride on the buses to and from the games, and watch each other's games, which gave the girls lots of bonding time.  Cat got really close to several of the other players, especially upper classmen, and she's sad that her senior friends won't be playing next year.  She'll really miss her coach, too, who won't be coaching the girls' team in the future.  It helps that he invited her to practice with the boys' team in the Spring, and she's pretty excited about that.