Soccer Stars

Soccer season is here, and we are lovin' every minute of it! Here are a few pics I took of the kids last Saturday during their games. Selah had her best game ever. She scored 5 goals, out of the 10 her team won with. We were so proud of her! Last year she only scored 1 goal the whole season.

Last week her team tied their game, and she played on defense, and she is really good on defense. This week the coach had another girl in on defense, and I kept thinking to myself... "put Selah in on defense! This girl isn't stopping the other team's balls" But Selah did great on offense today! She was so excited! Last year when she scored her one-and-only-goal, she totally turned her head in the other way of her cheering crowd (to hide her smile and embarresment as we were screaming and hollering for her!) It was rather cute, actually. But this time, she smiled and looked right at us, and kept going. Not throwing her hands in the air and jumping for joy, but definitely [quietly] relishing in the moment.

Bryson, also quite the little "all-star of the team" (as his coach put it on Saturday). He and his fancy footwork are fun to watch. He is very confident and somewhat aggressive on the field. Of course Alan and I are bursting with pride (and hinging on embarresment as he scores 12 goals). He is usually the kid that emerges from the cluster of boys with the ball under foot. We hear parents and coaches telling their kids to "get the ball away from Bryson"... "don't let Bryson get it." After watching him play, parents will look at us and smile and make some kind of comment about how good he is, or how kids his age usually don't have dribbling and ball handling skills that well developed at this age. On the way home Alan and I were talking about the fact that half way through the game we were cheering for Bryson to "pass the ball" or "get to the goal." He will sometimes stall just to "play keep away" rather than get to the goal to score. Also, we are trying to teach him to pass and be a team player rather than take the ball down the field himself each time. I'm thinking that will be our goal with him this season... teaching him to play "as a team" and not just take the ball and run the show. Well... maybe he could still do a little bit of that too.