Sunday, March 18, 2012

Spring soccer

I have made a conscious effort to not overschedule our kids.  And, up to this point in our lives, it has been great.  Especially with Andrew's church responsibilities, time together as a family here at home is a priority.

Well...this month that all changed.  We decided to let Brandon play spring soccer.  It has been interesting to see the other kids his age progressing much quicker in sports and we realized if he wants to make the team in middle school, he's going to need more time on the field.  So, we signed him up. 

When he played last fall, his team hardly ever practiced.  I think we had three practices all season long.  Brandon didn't mind that, but I felt like he was missing out on learning the fundamentals.  So I made sure to request a team that practices this season.  Well, you know that saying, "Be careful what you wish for"?  Holy cow!  So far, we have had practices/games three or four nights every week.  Phew.  It is exhausting.  At least for me.  I have become a taxi driver, running my kids here and there.  On Wednesdays, we go straight from Whitney's art class to soccer practice to cub scouts.  Luckily for the girls, both fields that we practice on have playgrounds right next to them.  And the weather has been gorgeous.  So they've enjoyed lots of outside time while B sharpens his soccer skills.

Brandon's on JT United this year.  It made me laugh when we our first game of the season was against his old team from the fall.  You know, the one that never practices.  And they KILLED us, 5-0.  Apparently the "no practice" thing is working for them.  We lost our second game as well.  And yesterday, we won our third.  Woo hoo! 

Brandon says he is loving this season because there are some good players on his team.  And because he's better this season than last.  He plays both midfielder and defender, but prefers midfielder.  He has had some really amazing plays, including 4 headers, 13 tackles, and an assist for a goal this season. [Brandon included that last line on his own.  I guess he got his dad's stat-keeping gene.]

Action shots





Looks like we caught 3 of his 4 headers on film.
Impressive!

I love this shot right after the header
with both boys looking for the ball.

Rematch against last season's giant.


 
Grandma and Grandpa S--We finally got to use our 8-foot poop poop!
And it was awesome!
We also found that it attracted every single child from the sidelines.
They used it as a tent and wanted to play in that little space behind
our chairs the whole time.  :)

4 comments:

  1. brandon told me about his assist for goal in class today. and his win. he wasn't excited or anything. :)

    and i know there's gotta be a spelling error or something involved, but please tell me that big umbrella thing is ACTUALLY called a poop poop. because if that's true, my kids will be demanding to have one as well just so they can say the name !

    hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Go Brandon! And great action shots!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shelley--you can thank Vonage visual voicemail for that name. Andrew's mom had called to leave a message about that gift en route to be delivered and Vonage transcribed it to say "8 foot poop-poop." It cracked us up and the name stuck. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's hard to think of that sweet little three-year-old bug all grown up into a soccer playing pre-teen, but the proof is in the pudding! And a poop-poop to watch it all in. Ah, life is suhweet!
    xo
    Mom S

    ReplyDelete