Fall Soccer 2012

Rachel, the orange crush

This year, Rachel, Josh and Emilee wanted to play soccer.  We found a league for them that didn't have Sunday games and signed them up.  They played with the Northwest Christian Sports League.  It is a rec league with focus on learning skills and good sportsmanship.  Shortly before the season was ready to start, we got an email.  Emilee's team was still in need of a coach.  I decided that if Robert would help me, I would give it a shot.  So we ended up coaching Emilee's U7 soccer team.  (Kind of funny that I was the head coach since my experience consists of playing soccer at recess in 4th and 5th grade where there were no rules other than no hands)  It ended up being a great season for all the kids.

Rachel the goalie - nobody gets by her

 Rachel played on a U13 team called the Orange Crush.  Several of the girls hadn't played before, so she wasn't the only relative newcomer.  (She had played a few years with the YMCA, but it was when she was 6 or 7)  She became a defensive specialist and an aggressive goalie.  While other goalies wait for the ball to come to them, Rachel acts like it belongs to her and takes it from the other team.  It was a challenging season in some ways, but she had fun and liked it enough to want to play the next season.

Any guesses what Josh's favorite thing to do during a game was?

 Josh played on a U10 team.  He had a coach with a lot of enthusiasm who was new at coaching.  He was great with the boys and tried hard to teach them the fundamentals of the game.  Josh really enjoyed practice, but didn't enjoy the game as much.  Josh is a gentle kid and being aggressive doesn't come naturally to him.  So he would kick the ball hard on defense when the ball would come to him, but on offense, he didn't really want to mix it up with the other boys.  He had a great time getting to know the boys on his team.  He enjoyed the season, but not enough to keep playing soccer.

Josh with his coach

 



Emilee, the Pink Panther

Emilee's team was a whole lot of fun.  There were girls as young as 4 and as old as 6.  Some of them had played before and some of them were new to the game.  I started off the season with the philosophy that practice should involve the kids being active and kicking the ball as much as possible.  So we played all kinds of fun games in practice.  We were able to have 90 minute practices with the girls without them getting bored, so I think we did something right.   At the beginning of the season, some of the girls hardly knew how to kick the ball, but by the end, they were all dribbling and nearly all of them had a chance to score a goal at some time during the season.  We taught our girls to play their position, so often we had 3 of our kids against 6 of theirs, but our girls kept trying.  They were such sweet girls and they loved their coaches.  The families were so supportive.  I did my best coaching and I loved seeing my efforts help the girls improve and enjoy the game.

Emilee's team at the end of season party

Angie handing out pictures and trophies

 

Sarah wishing she could play too

With 3 kids playing soccer and games all scheduled for Saturdays, we ended up with quite a bit of juggling to do.  Sometimes 2 kids would play at the same time, so I would coach alone while Robert went to the other game.  Sometimes they would be spread out so we were at soccer games all day long and had to go out to eat in the middle so we wouldn't starve.  There was one particular Saturday that was a big challenge.  Robert's car was being repaired so we only had the van to drive.  Two of the games overlapped and were at different fields, so we planned to have everyone come to the first game, then Robert, Rachel, and Josh would leave for Josh's game, and Emilee and I would wait at the field for everyone to return for Rachel's game.  I think Matthew and Sarah were going to come, until we woke up that morning and it was raining.  We decided not to have everyone fight the rain and left them at home.  We brought the shade canopy for me and Emilee to use in between games.  We both got soaked during Emilee's game and sat under the canopy trying to stay warm.  We had brought blankets with us, but it wasn't enough.  Thankfully, one of the moms brought us some hot chocolate.  And then later, another family returned to the field to bring us lunch from Readi Spaghetti where they had gone to eat.  They were both such sweet gestures and meant so much to two soaking wet, shivering people.

Robert and Matthew at Josh's end of season party

Matthew and Sarah were always good sports, coming to games when they could, staying home when they needed to, and cheering for their brother and sisters.  It was a great season and I was so happy to be able to support my kids.