The Start of Soccer Season

Apparently, the start of football season is also the start of soccer season. Who knew? I "played" soccer for one season in early childhood. I do have two distinct memories from the experience-- crying because it hurt my toe to kick the ball and oranges at halftime (skipping down the field, interlocking arms with a friend required mid-game refueling).

Jackson started soccer practice last week. In one practice, he'd already surpassed my soccer experience. How cute is this kid?

Jackson had a "game" on Saturday morning-- which is basically a 3x3 scrimmage. He got lots of ball time, kicked several goals, and had tons of fun. 

Here's a video I took to share with Derek because he was at drill. I considered cropping it down to highlight Jackson's shining moments (Jackson makes 3 shots!), but then you'd miss out on the whole experience of what it's like to really watch 4 year old soccer-- wrestling with the soccer net, lots of hand-touching, tackling. If you notice that the red team only has two kids, it's because the third wouldn't leave her mother's lap on the sideline. This is 4 year old soccer.

Last Monday, we were melting in 100 degree temps, but the temps dropped like crazy by the time tonight's practice started... We were shivering in our sweatshirts on the sidelines!

They played a silly game at practice tonight where they dribbled the ball until the coach called out a body part that they were to put on the ball. You can see that most of the other children participated, but Jackson replied, "I'm not interested!" 

One quick mention about the coaches. Take a quick peek at the next picture to see if you can find Coach and then the assistant "dad" coach.

We have a team of foreign gentlemen coaching our little teams. (Maybe they were afraid to have parent coaches with less than stellar soccer experience, such as myself?!) I noticed the accent during the game on Saturday, but it wasn't until one made a rugby reference was I convinced he wasn't American. After the game, I heard him tell another parent that they are on some sort of exchange program to coach competitive soccer here in the states. I assumed they were all British, but one guy said he was Welsh... and that gave me something to google later on that day. The poor guys probably didn't know that teaching 3 and 4 year old boys (girls, too) who watch too much American football was part of the deal. But really, these guys do an great job and are exceptionally patient! And quite proper, too. 

Maybe soccer this year can serve as a dating service for my sisters? Now THAT is an idea that gets me excited about this sport.