Soccer 10/10/09

I have tons of pictures and been too unorganized to post them. Some of the pictures are still on the camera, some on an external hard drive that isn't currently connected to my laptop, and some on Daddy's computer. I want to post them in order, but that just means I'm going to fall further and further behind. So without any more hoo haas, here are some of them.

This is the soccer on a rainy October day. It was fairly dry in the beginning but the rain came down hard in the middle. These little troopers of 4 and 5 year olds just kept on going without complaints.

The cheer leading team - (Thing 1 in pink, Thing 2 in white)

Big girls! Thing 2 is filling up because she eats like she's a bottomless pit, and Thing 1 is slowing down. Daddy and I now have to take a couple of seconds to tell them apart sometimes.

The little man of the hour during a pre-game drill.

The rain starts pouring, the team keeps going. Notice the thumbs up I got. :)

Being goofy! Being a defender (near the goalie) means he was told not to leave the area.


Curious George scores a goal!

Upward Soccer

Curious George is back in soccer again. This time through Upward (upward.org), which is a christian sports program through the local church. The uniforms are much nicer than in the YMCA, and seems to be more organized.

Bright and early at 8:30 today, we were on a mad rush to get out of the house. In Curious George's group are 4 and 5 year olds. They practice for 30 minutes and play for the next 30 minutes. For the first time, Curious George learned about the different positions. He was a left full back on the first game and was told that he and another boy must stay around the goalie to help. He took the coach's instruction to heart and only kicked the ball when it came to him. :-) The coach told him a few times that he could move a little bit. On the next game, he got to be the center forward.

Pre-game drills.

Playing in the front.

The team tries to score!

Cheerleader Thing 1 refuses the camera.

Cheerleader Thing 2 adores the camera!

Thing 1 finally warmed up. :)

It must be said that I'm not the kind of mom who watches quietly. If you go to any game, you'll see and hear me yelling, "Go Matthew! Get the ball! Go go go! Good job!!" The kids need to be cheered and given positive phrase! Besides, at this age, kids are only as enthusiastic as their parents. :-)

It's too early yet, but I can say with certainty that I won't be a parent who will argue will referees.

it's the end of soccer season

Gotta love this personalized trophy!

And the ball spins, a plus for 3 year olds!

This weekend was the last soccer session. Unfortunately, we didn't make it. The little man hardly slept the night before coughing furiously. It would have been alright for him to go, without playing much just to be there, but it rained all morning. From what others told us, the team were out there for 20 minutes before they all ran for cover.

Toward lunch time, the plan was for the team to meet at the local pizzaria to enjoy each other's company and to hand the trophies. So right on the dot, we were there. But all the other soccer families had the same idea and we couldn't get a table. The party I promised the little man was not to be. He was quite disappointed, so I had to improvise. I told him we were a part of the soccer party that was already there. Thankfully they all had the same kind of trophy, so the ruse worked.

I explained that there is no more soccer, so now he said he wants baseball. My explanation of how baseball is for the summer went out the window because he said it's already summer. It was quite warm that day.

Daddy and the girls didn't make it because they were sick too. All three had a fever.

it's cold today!

We all woke up at 7:30 this morning. In our house, that's considered sleeping in, unfortunately, that's too late for a 9AM soccer game! But we did still somehow got there on time.

It was only in the upper 40's so we all froze our buns off (it was 85 yesterday!). But yet, the little man still made 3 goals. Yay! It still takes a whole lot of coaxing and encouragement for him to play, though. If we ask him play, he says, "I don't want to!" But when he's out there, he's pretty good! I heard that trophies were being handed out today so I used that as an incentive. Unfortunately, the plans were changed at the last minute. The trophies will be handed out next week after the game. The team will have a 'banquet' at the local pizzaria. It should be fun.

Trying to keep warm!

Half time snuggle time. Can you tell the eyebrows were made from the same mold?

Such a sad puppy-eyed look from Thing 2. See the horizontal red line on her nose? She tripped just before we left home and landed flat on her face on the floor. Thankfully, nothing is broken. She should grow up to have her Mommy's pug nose.

Thing 1, the little red riding hood.

and he scores! Twice!

It was a great day at soccer because Big Bro scored 2 goals (not that we keep score though). Not bad after missing last week's session. He wasn't into the game and took a little coaxing to get him to play, but when I told him I was going to the field with him (I was the only parent on the field!) he agreed to play.

He was awesome. He was able to get the ball out of the crowed (3 on 3 game) and took it to the goal.



One mom in our team approached and asked me, "Wow, he has been practicing!" To which I replied, "um, no not really. He hasn't touched the ball in 2 weeks!"

While taking a break and still on a high, he demanded I take his picture while he makes faces.



On the last game, he was able to get the ball away from everyone else again. But on the way to the goal, another player from the other team was just standing still right on Big Bro's path. Because of this, the other kid was able to steal the ball away from him and was able to get away with it. Big Bro cried like someone had just taken his lollipop. He ran to me and said, "that boy took the ball from me!" So funny.

Soccer Time

It was a family affair yesterday at the Y. Thanks to Daddy, the little man was even better at Soccer. He can now steal the ball, whereas last week, he was unsure of what to do. He stole the ball a couple of times and headed to the right goal (yay!). Both Daddy and I were on the field to give some instructions. Daddy was behind him cheering him on, while I kept in front in his line of vision. I anticipated where he would be so that he could hear and see me. Unfortunately, this almost lead to some lasting embarassment. He stole the ball and headed to the goal. But the ball went 1 foot outside the goal. But since I was there, I almost kicked the ball in myself! Thank goodness to some last minute self-control, I didn't. Unfortunately, a couple of on the field saw it, including the coach. He came up to me and was laughing about it. I just had to laugh at myself. I think perhaps next week, I'll stay behind the little man.

Here is a short video. As you can imagine, I got overly excited when the little man stole the ball, I didn't get to take a video.



And here are some half-time fun pictures with Daddy.

Thing 1 was happy in the stroller, but Thing 2 could not be contained.

Half-time and tickle-time all in one.

Soccer at the Y

The weather was great today, so we finally had our first Soccer session at the Y and what fun it was. Unfortunately, Daddy couldn't make it because he wasn't feeling well (the girls stayed home with him).

The first half hour was practice and the coach had great activities for the Strikers. They played Simon Says, Battleship and some kicking drills. The 2nd half hour was for the games (3 on 3 only). Big Bro volunteered himself for the first game, which unfortunately resulted in a mini-melt down later because he realized later that he wanted to be with his best buddies (also in the same team). We really don't keep score, but the way it went, the other team kicked the Strikers butt. Either those kids has been playing before, or they just had way too much energy. Nonetheless, everyone had fun (meltdowns and all).

Meet & Greet - Soccer

There was a meet and greet for the YMCA soccer tonight so the whole troop went. We met two of Big Bro's school friends and the three of them acted like they haven't seen each other in years. After the ritualistic greeting (hitting/pushig/hugging) they squeeled and ran around in circles. They are team Strikers. It would be interesting to see if there is actually Soccer that happens on Saturdays with these three musketeers.