Fall Soccer

Soccer was hard this year, but the boys had fun. It was so busy that we spent our Saturday mornings running and dropping off and picking up. Since Mark played competition baseball, he and Mom were often on the road on weekends in St. George or Logan. This left Dad to coach Seth's team and Dax to carry his team and be dropped off by a neighbor. Even if Mom was in town, so many games overlapped, that we decided that Mark has to make some decisions about sports this year. It may be his last Fall soccer league.

Mark played with older boys this year as they combined the 12- 13- and 14-year-old teams because there aren't many kids still playing that age. He was still the star on the team, but sometimes he got knocked around by kids that outweighed him by eighty pounds or more. His core team stayed together, though, and they have been playing as a team for about seven years. This makes it fun for Mark, and his decision will be pretty difficult this year. He has enjoyed playing with Coach Clark for all these years with his good friends.

Mark was exhausted after this game, but I needed a picture of him from this season!

Mark plays at the prettiest place, too. We love the mountain backdrop. 

Mark has great ball control and sees the field very well. 

Mark had a fun team and they played well considering how small they were compared to most teams.

Dax was the best player on his team, too. He scored over half the goals while spending a good portion of time as goalie. He is fearless when defenders come at him with the ball and regularly stops shots in one-on-one situations. His favorite moment of the year was overlapping as a defender and scoring from the far right hash. He booted it over everyone and into the back of the goal. We were so proud of how well Dax played and led his team this year.

Dax loves soccer!

Dax has great kicks!

Dax's coach didn't know where to put him because he was the best goalie and the best forward! 

Dax's team was a little goofy, but Dax still had fun!

Seth had a great season, too. His team consisted of a bunch of friends from our neighborhood and his new kindergarten class. Seth was the best passer on his team. He especially excelled at throw-ins, and many of his throws led to easy goals for his team. Best of all, he got to go to practices with Dad every week. His team didn't end up with a great record, but Seth scored a lot of goals and worked well with his friends. Seth was mostly glad that Dad was his coach.

Seth loves to play soccer with Dad!

When Seth is really focused, he sticks his tongue out. It's so funny! 

Seth is not afraid to get in the middle of the pack!

Seth loved having so many friends on his team!

Of course the boys get to do it all again in the Spring as we play in a two season league. After that, though, Dad will retire from soccer coaching and Mark will most likely move on to other sports.