RF: Soccer

Our little town of Rineyville has it's own youth soccer league. At the age of 4, there's not a lot of things out there for him. So when I found out they had a U6 (under 6 years old) team, we signed him up. Jack was so excited to pick out spikes and shin guards. I was excited because it's another way for him to meet a few kids that would probably be in kindergarten with him this fall. Plus all the other good stuff that sports bring. Well, a few Tuesdays ago, he had his first practice. It was right after we had a parent meeting for the whole league. This is when I found out they even had a U4 age group. I was surprised that Jack was old enough to play soccer in this league, but Ty could play too?!?!?! This was great news because Ty was pretty sad when Jack got to go play soccer with the other kids and he had to hang out with me and Bodie. So I contacted the soccer league and Ty's age group still had openings so we got to sign Ty up for soccer as well. He was one happy kid!
   Our weekends for the next 6 weeks will be fully consumed by soccer. Jack has a game every Saturday AND Sunday. Plus we even have away games for Jack, which cracks me up. Then Ty has a game every Saturday afternoon. Jack's on the Wildcats and Ty's on the Sugar Babies. :-) Their first games were this past weekend. Since our families weren't here to to help cheer on Jack and Ty, our amazing neighbor Tonya came out to help us be loud! (We are so amazingly lucky to have her and her family in our lives!!!)
    It was a long Saturday! There was an opening ceremony at 9, Jack had his first game at 10, then we were back at the field at 2 for Ty's game. Jack's game went as one would think a group of 4 and 5 year olds playing soccer for the first time would go. Hahahah! But they had fun!!! Jack seemed to play with the string on his shorts more than the soccer ball, but he had his moments of greatness. We played a team that had played together for 3 seasons, and knew a lot more about what they were doing. Our team....not so much. We had one practice on a field that didn't have any lines painted on it. Our coach was a little frazzled at the end, but Jack had fun and that's all that matters. It was pretty entertaining. For Jack's second game on Sunday....there was a big improvement! The Wildcats seemed to understand a little bit more about where they should be and what they should be doing. At one point I turned into "That mom" and had to yell to snap Jack back into the game since he was standing IN the goal with his face pushed through one of the holes in the net. HAHAHAHH!!! I must have yelled his name 6 times before he heard me, he was in his own world. :-) After the game we told him that he can't stand in the goal and squish his face through the holes like that, and asked him why he was doing it. His repsonse....I was making silly faces. Well, OK then. I should have known! He did score a goal in Sunday's game, it was for the other team, but it was still him kicking the ball in a goal! :-) We were so proud of him!! He did great! (other than the squishy goal face episode)
   As for Ty, he did great too. The Sugar Babies didn't have a practice or anything. We just show up 20 minutes before the game and they practice then. So Ty's first game was his first time meeting his teammates and coach. His coach is really sweet, and in this age group, the coaches are on the field helping direct the kids on where to go and what to do. (Personally I think that's how it should be for Jack's age group too) It took Ty a minute, but then he warmed right up and had so much fun! The smile on his face was HUGE! He did so well too. I actually got to capture my favorite moment from Ty's game on video...it sums it all up..... (Ty's the blondie in the orange tshirt)

The boys are loving soccer, and it gets us out of the house with something new to do on the weekends. Fun for all! :-)
My soccer boys

I LOVE this picture because Jack is the only one running away from the ball! :-)

Jack in action.

Prom date pose.

Ty's team

Multitasking. Soccer and thumb sucking.

Ty's action shot

Bodie supporting his brothers