Silver Team

Bradley - Fall 2012 Soccer - (Silver Team) - #3

(Front) Coach Jon, SAGE, Orlando, ??, Kennedy, BRADLEY (Back) Elway, Cole, ??, Connor

This was Bradley's first season in soccer.  He played with his friend Sage (#5.) But you couldn't call Sage by her name,  you had to either call her "The Purple One," or "Number 5."  And if you wanted to cheer her on, you had to say, "High Five, Number 5!"  Those were her rules.  She's a pretty fun kid. :) 

Bradley had to ease into soccer.  He just kind of stood there, or walked around for the first game.  Then he started to jog around follow the "bunch."  I bribed him to try and touch the ball.  At first I told him if touched the ball 5 times, he could have a soda.  It was hilarious. Whenever he kicked it, he would look down at his fingers and put another one up.  He was determined to get that soda!  By the 3rd game, he had to touch it 12 times to get the soda, and by the middle of the season finally just wanted to play.

Then, just because I thought it wouldn't happen, I offered to get him TWO sodas if he ever scored a goal.  He had a ballhog on his team named Orlando, and so the chance of him getting the ball to the net before this kid could steal it away, was pretty slim.  Well.  He proved me wrong.  He scored a goal.  He outsmarted Orlando by doing what Orlando would never do.  Bradley kicked the ball into his own goal.  He was so excited!  We cheered him on, and took him to get 2 sodas. Haha!

Charles filled in as coach a couple of games.

Bradley had fun playing and earning a trophy, but he'll be taking a break next season. :)

Brynnlee at Soccer

While the brothers played soccer, Brynnlee had a lot of time to run around off (but sometimes on) the field.

She ran up and down hills.

She had Grandma and Grandpa and Alli around to help entertain her so she did't wander off onto the field... too often.

She always had a big bag of goldfish to help get her through the games.

Sometimes she threw tantrums to let us know she was done.

Sometimes she just and practiced being a teenager.

Green Lizards

Jaden - Fall 2012 Soccer - The Green Lizards - #6

(Front) Ricardo, JADEN, Nathan, Preston, Princess (Back) Dulce. Abraham, Thayne, Kisac, Marco Landa

This was Jaden's 2nd time playing soccer. He played with 2 of his neighborhood buddies, Kisaac and Lucus.

Jaden's games were... intense.  He decided he wanted to try playing goalie.  So for half of each game, he was was in the net.  The first game, he was pretty timid, and barely stretched out a limb to stop a shot.  By the end of the season, he was leaping and diving.  As painful and intense as it was to watch, it was also really fun to see him progress and become more confident in that position over the 8 week season.

When he wasn't playing goalie, he rotated between forward, mid-field and defender.  We really liked his coach.  He didn't seem to care too much about whether or not we won, but he always gave the kids the chance to try and get a feel for whatever position they wanted.  Sometimes, we as parents would get frustrated by that because at halftime we were winning.  And then the coach would change up positions so our team wasn't as strong for the last part of the game.  But then I realized, he was letting the kids explore the different positions and figure out what they liked.  At this early of an age, I can appreciate that.

Did you see where Jaden stopped playing to tell the ref that he had a handball?  He did this twice.  He has also stopped playing while the ball was right next to him to help a fellow player who just took a ball to the face, or to the groin.  That's just the kind of kid he is.  He's honest, timid, and cares about others.  Not an aggressive bone in his body, and I love that about him.  Unfortunately it doesn't translate well on the soccer field.  That's okay.  He still has fun.  :)

Jaden and Kaleb are on a sports high right now and are ready to start a season of indoor soccer followed by a season of basketball.  Bring it on!

Bumblebees

Kaleb - Fall Soccer 2012 - Bumblebees - #5

Gotta love School pictures and Sports pictures.  Haha! 

(Front) COLE, ISAAC, Mason, TJ, Abby  (Back) AGUSTIN, Christian, Landon, KALEB and ALLI

This was Kaleb's first year playing soccer.  He got to play with 3 of his good friends, Augustin, Cole and Issac.  And, he got to have his Aunt Alli as his coach.  (Thank you Alli, you were awesome!  And I've heard over half of the team's parents say they want you again.  What? It's true!)

Here is a a video of some of Kaleb's highlights for the season.  I only took videos of 2 out of 8 games.  How many goals can you see him score?



Kaleb's team was really fun to watch.  They worked well together, they communicated, they passed, and Kaleb scored about 7 or 8 goals.

I think Kaleb is a natural at this sport.  He's aggressive, he can focus, and he really loves to play.  Who would have thought I'd ever be encouraging and cheering on his aggressive side?

This is Bradley entertaining Brynnlee on the sidelines.  She cracked up laughing whenever he jumped up and down with his chair.

When I played soccer, my mom and dad offered to buy me a frozen yogurt every time I scored a goal. (Hmmmmm... I must not have scored very often!)  After Kaleb's first game, I decided to make him the same offer, but with soda.  We bought a lot of soda this season!

Good game, good game, good game, good game...

Nice job, Coach!

We are missing Cole in this picture.  This was taken at the end of their last game, and it was so cold, I think he just took off.  Next season I will get the 4 of them.

Kaleb, Agustin, Issac (and a missing Cole B)