Soccer Update

Here's a little soccer update for you.  Brody's team has definitely been improving.  Each practice/game they have, they seem to be better and better. They are playing like more of a team and  more of his teammates have been scoring.  Jonathon is probably the best with the ball and has been scoring about once a game.  Brody W. is a great defender and loves to protect the goal.  Kian is a great player too, but wasn't able to play most of October because of a concussion he got from falling out of a stroller.  So scary!  He is much better now and back to playing.  Marek is still in left field and off in his own world.  And then there is Brody.  While he has been getting better each week and less of a ball hog, he was getting very frustrated at times during the games.  He wasn't scoring as much as he did in the beginning (about 1 to 2 goals/game) because the other teams were getting better too.  That would make him mad and he would refuse to play in the middle of the game.  We had several pep talks with him and the only thing that seemed to work was bribing.  I bribed him with a slurpee with Dad after one game and he played like a champ after that.  There's a little insight into his personality (sigh).

We have been loving and looking forward to our Saturday mornings.  Brody is always excited to play and loves his teammates and his coaches.  We really lucked out with this team.  Here are some pictures and video of some of the games over the month of October.

The kids warming up with Coach Shawn.  They love running around trying to catch him.

Brody practicing his shooting skills.

Watch out Brody!  Coach is going to take it from you!

Mastering the dribble.

Always in need of a water break.

Grandma and Grandpa Brown came down one Saturday to see Brody play.  The kids were so excited to have them there.

Enjoying their game snacks before heading home.

 

GOAL!

 A little taste of what it is usually like out there on the field. . . . back and forth.

Jonathon scoring a goal for our team.  Brody got a little frustrated that he wasn't scoring and needed a talk from Daddy.

It must have worked because Brody got right out there and tried one for himself.  It had just barely missed it though.

Here's a great play from his teammate Jonathon.  So close!

An exciting score for Brody!

Battling it out for a win.  This team we played were causing a bit of frustration for their coaches. They had one player who refused to play and not many strong players.  John was observing their coaches as he was down field watching Brody.  He overheard them say, "Man it's like we are playing 7 year olds"  They weren't too happy with our team and bent the rules just to make it more fair.  If a ball went out they would just kick it back in and let them keep playing instead of having us throw it in like we have been teaching the kids.  Then, since they weren't scoring, on two occassions, during their kick off when our team was clearly not ready they just took it down the field and scored.  They told their boys, "oh well they weren't ready".  It is just a shame that the kids are learning this when it is really just a time to have fun and enjoy playing.  No one is competitive, we don't even keep score.  Just hope those kids are enjoying first soccer experience. 

Oh so close Buddy!