Soccer

This year, our Friday Play Group friends got together and decided to sign our kids up for their first organized sport - a soccer league for two year olds! The games have been hilarious (and sometimes stressful). Jackson scored his first goal during the first game and I just happened to get it on video. Yay Jackson! It was an exciting moment. I looked over at my parents and Steven's parents, who had come to watch the game. They were all cheering and my Dad mouthed "his first goal!!" to me. It was so great to share that special moment with our family.

Some of the Dads have volunteered to coach the team and we had 2 practices before their first game. The team name is TNT (Tough N Tiny - and they are!!) and their color is red. Even though we have lots of college recruiters at the games already (haha - kidding!!), our coaches make sure everyone has equal playing time and we don't keep score. Good thing too, this weekend Jackson scored on the goal he was supposed to be protecting!! To his credit, he turned around and ran the ball down the field to score on the opposite goal as well.

One of the kids on the team, Davey, is our "ringer." This little boy could probably run circles around kids twice his age (which is only 5, but still!). He is really impressive on the field and probably one of the only ones who understands the point of the game.

I love the above picture. It represents exactly what happens at the games. Parents all over the field, some of the kids paying attention, some crawling/running/rolling/whatever and some kids standing or sitting, but not paying attention. At one point (during the game), Jackson was lying down on the turf while two kids sat over him, tickling him. With only 5 players on each team, that put TNT at a slight disadvantage... good thing this league doesn't keep score!!!

Here is one of the only pictures I got of the kids in their uniform. Jackson decided that he didn't really want to play soccer during the first (and second) game, so I spent a lot of time holding his hand and, finally, just picking him up and running after the ball up and down the field. I figured that as long as we were on the field, he might as well participate any way possible.

It has been so much fun cheering on our little ones!