Thunder v. Stingrays (aka: 1st Soccer Game)

Izzy's first soccer game went MUCH better than I anticipated. In fact I might even say it was darn close to perfect. The kids did GREAT!

To say that I was nervous before the game would be an understatement. In fact, I had to take a Dramamine just to calm my stomach. It wasn't the kids that I was worried about, rather the parents. I know just over half the players parents really well. We have the same goals for our girls this season: fun, build self esteem, learn basics of the game, teamwork, - you know, have fun! All our girls are also newbies to the game. I know the mom of a veteran boy and she is just so darn sweet, as is her son, that I am not worried about them. The other parents (2 boys, 1 girl) I do not know. All those kids are playing for the 3rd year. One of the parents really intimidates me. Two of the the other parents I can't get a good read on. However, one mother did tell me she thought her son was in the wrong league. He's not :)

So, our practices have been chaos to say the least. I am so worried about someone not having fun, or getting upset that I try to make everyone happy. Guess what, 8 kids under 6 are really hard to keep happy at the same time! We are getting better though. I just need a little more structure.

Moving on to today's game: kickoff was at 11 am. We play 4 versus 4, no goalie. The kids had a blast - or so I believe? Izzy desperately wanted to score a goal. In fact, this was all she talked about leading up to the game. However, it is not possible to score if you don't kick the ball, is it? She had many opportunities to kick the ball, she chose not to. In fact, once she actually ran away from a ball coming towards her. Oh well, at least no major meltdowns - just a minor one over wet shorts (her water dripped). Alexandra shed a few tears, but we quickly (or not so quickly) got her back out on the field to play. I held her hand whenever she was on the field and that seemed to lift her spirits. Riley didn't have one single meltdown! She even got in there and went after a couple balls. Once she even had the ball and started dribbling...in the wrong direction. I can't blame her though as there were too many kids in the other direction. Delaney was a solid player all the way around. That girl has a competitive streak which will serve me well :) She has spunk and got down and dirty with the best of them!

After the game we had a quick scramble for a lost Drew. Pete was not at the game because he is off on a much deserved guys weekend. I took a babysitter instead and she was fantastic at keeping Drew away from me (no small task). She is an all around great person, she is the lifeguard from our pool who in the past has worked with special needs children, went to college for Early Education, hopes to work with autistic children, and is taking a sign language class. Yup, she's a keeper! Through no fault of hers (it was mine) Drew disappeared and a search party went looking. He was found perfectly content on the playground. Thank goodness!

Jen took some pictures for me and as soon as I get them I will upload a few! I sure hope next week goes just as smoothly.

Team Thunder is 1-0!