Another fun soccer season under our belts.
Mitch had a really great year. He seemed much more polished this year than last. He is still playing with no goalies, 3-on-3, which really gives the kids a chance to just play- kick the ball a lot, score, and gain some confidence. Mitch really knew what was going on this year and was much more aggressive. It was so fun to watch him play.
For the second year in a row, his team didn't have a coach just days before the season was to start. At the last minute, just like last year, one of the dads volunteered to coach. He did a pretty good job and I have to commend him for stepping up when no one else would. Boys at this age are very rambunctious and the coach struggled with keeping the boys in line and on task. This age group plays 3-on-3 on side by side fields, so 6 boys on the same team play at a time (split between two fields). The boys that sit out wait in between the fields, and this is where the wildness kicked in. The boys sitting out would run around crazy, kicking balls, play fighting and were very distracting to the audience. We were very firm with Mitch from day one that when he was sitting out, he was to sit and watch the game. He did such a great job and we were so proud of him. I felt bad for the coaches (the coach's brother helped him out), as they were busy on the field with the other boys and had a hard time keeping the sidelined players quiet.
This picture depicts perfectly the heigh difference between Mitch and most of his teammates and opponents. An entire head taller, at least. He played on a kindergarten/first grade team, so he was one of the older boys (especially with a Fall birthday, he's the oldest in first grade), but he was heads taller last season too.
I never noticed until I was looking through these pictures that Mitch sticks his tongue out a lot when he plays. I thought it was adorable.
Another tongue shot!
Trying to score!
Our grass faced, biggest soccer fan!
Great season Mitch! He seems to have quite a bit of natural athletic ability. He takes to sports really well and just loves being active and playing anything.
His last game was on October 25th. Right after the game the team had a pizza party at a nearby pizza place. Mitch, soccer and eating go hand in hand!
Mitch with his coach! And his medal... Oh, how I hate medals and trophy's. It is all the rage here in every sport. Every coach we have ever had, even the superb ones, insist on everyone buying their child either a medal or trophy at the end of the season. I don't think kids need a trophy for playing a sport. If they won a championship tournament or something, then I would be all for it. But participation trophies/medals are ridiculous. They mean nothing. All the other parents love them, saying "These kids deserve trophies for all of their hard work!" I disagree! You play a sport to play the sport, not to get a trophy! Every coach that has asked for a vote on whether to do them, I always vote no and I am the only one. Even refusing doesn't help- I did that once and the coach bought Mitch a trophy out of his own pocket and I felt bad about that. My kids are excited about the trophy/medal for about 3 days, then they get added to the other 7 trophies they already have that mean nothing. I'm all for pizza parties and certificates and the coaches telling about the strengths of each player, but the trophies have got to stop.
Chloe was in a new situation this year. Her age group moved up to the BIG fields. Chloe was very intimidated the first number of games and played very cautiously. It was hard to see her so intimidated after such an amazing season last year, where she really shined and had so much confidence and did so well. She got a little better as this season progressed, but did not shine to her full potential. But she had fun.
She got to play goalie a lot, which she enjoyed.
Biggest soccer fan again!
Chloe had a fun season. She had a few excellent players on her team that really dominated and scored all the goals. You don't have to score goals to be good, but the field size and more players on the field were hard for Chloe. Hopefully next year she will be more adjusted and will get some of her spunk back. Good job Chloe!
(Chloe also had an end of the year party as well where she received a medal. Parents were not asked if they wanted medals- we all just received an email telling us how much they cost and that we needed to bring the money with us to the party. Ahhh, so special).
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