First Soccer Games

Getting ready to play!

Hey, this is Randy.

Today was the first day of soccer games for both our boys. It was also a step up for both boys. For Mark, he moved into a more advanced league, which features goalies and referees. He has a great coach who has taught him positions, passing, and where to be on the field. For Dax, he is playing soccer for the first time ever. He is in the butterfly league (named by me to describe the large number of children who are chasing butterflies more than soccer balls.)

Dax's game was first, and we were pretty worried that he might be a butterfly chaser. He can be a bit stubborn and whiney at times, so we wondered if he'd just sit down on the field with his arms crossed and demand the ball come to him. He sat for the first rotation and then checked in (the score was still 0-0) and promptly scored a goal. We were super excited and so was he. He scored two more before half, and it was 3-0-- or would've been if it hadn't been for the strict "no score-keeping" rule enforced by the butterfly league.

There goes Dax....

In the second half, he sat again, and the other team scored 2 goals. When he checked in, he immediately took over, scoring a goal within 15 seconds. Well, the final "score" (unofficial, of course) was 6-3. Dax scored 6 goals, all for his team (in the butterfly league, that doesn't actually go without saying!) We had to downplay it a bit, and remind Dax that he never has to tell people how good he is, he only has to show them. (Man there is a fine line between raising a self-confident child and an egotistical jerk!)

Mark's game was exciting, too. His team dominated throughout, with the ball on his team's end (near the goal they were defending) for about 10% of the game. The other team only had two shots on goal. On one of them, they had a wide open net when the goalie fell down, but Mark hustled back and slide-kicked the ball out from in front of the goal and out-of-bounds. I actually appreciate plays like that more than scoring plays usually. (Honestly, when you watch Sportscenter which is more impressive, a diving catch or a homerun).

Mark was most excited because he got to be a forward-- in fact the middle forward, if that's a thing. He took three shots on goal and scored one of them. His team won 3-0. It was fun to watch his team (the core of the team is the little tots I coached last year in their final stint in the butterfly league) playing "real" soccer. I sure am glad they have a coach who knows if there's a middle-forward in soccer, though!

Mark getting ready to kick off.

He loves his new uniform.
My videos of Mark didn't turn out--I'll try again next week,