Are You Ready For Some Futbol?!

These days, our Saturdays are filled with sunshine and soccer. Yesterday we had a game at 8am, 1:30pm and 5pm. Nothing like spending the day coming and going to the field! Josh is playing his first ever season on a nice little YMCA team. Zach and Ben are playing for a club program called Pride, which is a bit more competitive than our usual Parks and Rec or YMCA teams.

Zach has played soccer since he was 3 1/2, and has great ball handling skills. This week he seems to finally have settled into this new level of play, since all of his soccer experience of the past has focused more on skills and sportsmanship than actually winning. Winning? What's that? But, I guess he is almost 8 and it is time to move into the "real" world of sports where someone is actually keeping track of who wins and who loses, as long as he remembers that in the end playing sports is about having fun, win or lose ("Did you have fun?" is the first question Adam and I ask at the end of each game). The first game I attended, I was a little overwhelmed, as one parent of a kid on Zach's team, in the U7/U8 division, was yelling, "SLIDE TACKLE! SLIDE TACKLE!" during the game. I'm thinking, "Wait, I'm not ready for this! He's only 7! What have I gotten my sensitive Zach into?" But Adam and the boys have been practicing a lot and talking about getting aggressive on the ball. This week, Zach was definitely on that ball and had a lot of great plays. I am proud of him for taking the skills he has been practicing and putting them into play.

You've got it bud! Zach wide open.

That's my ball! Zach controlling the ball in a crowd.

Ben's team, in the U5/U6 division, is less intense, although Ben is not. He loves to run and has also played for a couple of years now. He definitely doesn't need reminders to go after the ball and has great control. At this level, they play 4 on 4 with no goalies and no referees (you can see the how big the jump is from U6 to U7!), so there is a lot of scoring on both sides, and it is so funny to watch these 5 and 6-year-olds jumping up and down, pumping their fists in the air on every score like they've just won the World Cup. I love it! Adam is coaching Ben's team, and thinks it's the bees knees. He enjoys teaching the kids, their enthusiasm for the game, and even gets to be on the field with the kids to guide and instruct them in a game. We now have 14 size 3 soccer balls and 24 cones in a big mesh bag to cart from practice to practice. At the end of every game, Adam says how much he loves his team and the parents.

Ben's on that ball! Hi, Coach Adam in the background.

Ben sticking out the Michael Jordan tongue of concentration. Hey there again, Coach.

Josh has loved getting into soccer. He has certainly watched from the sidelines for enough years, that it isn't surprising that he is already a great player. He has had a couple of break-away scores that are so cute, it is hard not to chuckle as he runs up the field on his little legs all covered in shorts and shin-guards. Josh loves the game, but I think, just as much, he loves the snacks and the parent tunnel at the end! He is having so much fun!

Josh as goalie...in these three-year-old games the goalie doesn't get much action, because there isn't enough control of the ball to ever really get it to the ends of the field!

Josh taking a turn running through the parent tunnel. Look at the pure bliss on his face!

Well, ready or not, soccer season is in full swing!