I’m now an official soccer mom!

This fall we let our kids play the family’s first team sports since Daniel’s disastrous t-ball season when he was 4. Caroline and Rachel wanted to do gymnastics, but Katherine and Elizabeth signed up for soccer and have loved it. Katherine started out a little rocky, but she didn’t even know the rules of the game before she started, so she has made terrific progress. At her first game, nobody wanted to be goalie, so she stuck up her hand to volunteer, even though she’d never even practiced the position (which led to some tense moments during the game!). She discovered she really likes being goalie, and it’s now her favorite position. She’s enjoyed playing so much that we signed her up for winter indoor soccer as well as a special “skills development” course. Apparently, we can’t do this halfway. She had a great coach, and will be on the same team in the spring. They only won one game all season, but were really improving by the end, so we have hope for the spring season!

Elizabeth was the fastest kid on her team and stayed right in the middle of the action on the field. Whatever was happening with the ball Elizabeth was right there. It would just be nice if next year she occasionally reaches out and kicks the ball! By her last game, she was finally making a (small) difference in the direction the ball headed, but it’s hard to cheer for her when she never touches the ball. (“Way to look at that ball go past, Elizabeth!” ummm, no.) She loved playing though and definitely wants to play spring soccer as well. She was supposed to play indoor soccer, but due to a miscommunication, wasn’t signed up like I thought she was. Oh well, a break will probably keep her from burning out…