Soccer, Soccer, Soccer, and more Soccer

We've begun another season of soccer. All four older children wanted to play, so we will be rather busy, but it's fun! Everyone was so excited last Saturday as we waited for the game times. John spent the morning thinking of team names for every possible jersey color. When John and Reed got to the field and recieved silver uniforms, John quickly campaigned for his choice of team name. Everyone liked his choice, so they are called The Silver Surfers. And John scored the only goal in their 1-0 win. He was so happy. Patricia missed the goal because she was signing up for refreshments, and I missed it because I was coaching Hyrum's team during his game. Reed was really happy for John and that was nice to see. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in their relationship, because the consensus among the two of them is that Reed is the better player. Now, John has scored. Will Reed score? What will he think/do if he doesn't? It seems silly and trivial to us, perhaps; but we have to remember that it's a HUGE deal to Reed. We'll see what happens. Either way, it will be a great opportunity for growth.


Anna's team got black uniforms. They look cool. The kids decided on the Dark Dragons as their name. She stills plays on the small field and the congestion of all the players make it difficult for her to use her superior ball-handling skills. She still almost scored on a number of occasions. She should get her share of goals this season (not that this is all that matters!). I will miss half of her games because of classes.



Hyrum really got into the mix of things. Last time he signed up he rarely played, preferring to sleep on my lap sometimes. Once last year he played in his moon boots because he hates the feel of shoes on his feet. (He played in his new Vans last Saturday). Hyrum's unis are also Silver and he wants his team to be called the Silver Surfers, too. I may be coaching his team (I did on Saturday) if the person who volunteered decides to opt not to. It was fun to run around the field helping the kids out.



Luckily, all the games are at the same location of fields. I remember when Michael, Eric, and I all had games all at different schools on Saturday. One thing that's weird to me about soccer here in Utah. No oranges. I remember growing up that each halftime we ate oranges. That's just the way it was, and I thought that all youth soccer games were this way (until my kids started and I learned that anything from Cosmic Brownies to popsicles constitute a game snack). Another memory of soccer that I have are trips for Slurpees or Thrifty's ice-cream after the game, usually catching a ride in Dad's old Nova.

Soccer is fun for the family.