UVA Women's Soccer

I took Shane to his first college soccer game on Sunday. We went to see the UVA Women's team take on Pittsburgh. 

They passed out thunder-sticks!

Those got really annoying in my ear. Shane loved the thunder right out of them. I showed him how to blow them back up when I got tired of it.

I love the snark on his expression as I tried to take a selfie.

Vain boy got very interested when he realized there was a camera turned on him.

I got him to smile for one decent picture.

Shane loved being in a crowd and making noise. The soccer game was secondary. Maybe even tertiary.....Shane really wanted a hot dog!

We bought stadium food and bumped into his baseball coach's wife behind the counter! It took me a moment to place her aside from "Wow! She looks so familiar!"

The UVA women's team clearly outmatched Pittsburgh. It was one sided. Shane wasn't super interested in the game, so I offered to leave at half time. He said he didn't want to, so I suggested we should switch to the grass side of the field.

At first, Shane resisted. He liked being high in the bleachers. I forced the issue and that's when the real fun started for Shane.

We saw a brother and sister fencing with their thunder-sticks. Shane jumped in.

The boys ganged up on the girl after they sparred for a bit!

When she had enough, they turned on each other again.

They went back to watch the game when the second half started. Shane wanted to sword fight more!

It's really neat how close you can get to the game. The crowd was small, but relaxed. There were kids rolling around and doing cartwheels on the grass side while their parents watched the game. Soon, Shane was rolling down the hill.

I alternated watching him and the game. It was neat being able to hear the player's chatter as they directed each other. Several soccer balls popped over the fence and kids had to hand them back to a stadium worker!

Shane really didn't watch much from this point on.

Well, other than when he was trying to social with one boy. He started to ask if the boy was a girl and 'don't you know, girls normally have longer hair?' when I overheard. Shane tried to insist a girl was a guy earlier when we were buying hot dogs, as well. I correct him, but he persisted and kept trying to point! She put her hoodie down later and only then did Shane realize he was wrong.

Another spontaneous sword fight broke out near the end of the game.

There was wrestling.

And there was shoe theft.

Shane lost his shoes near the end. See his white sock?

The game ended a completely one-sided victory for UVA.

Shane had a lot of fun! I was hoping for something new and memorable. I hoped he'd learn a little more about soccer and talked my head off while we were in the bleacher. However, I think his main takeaway was that their were kids and thunder-sticks!

The soccer season is nearing the end, but I'm thinking about taking Shane again. For $5 a ticket it was a great time!