Shane and I drove by a mini-Stonehenge on the way to his final soccer game. Soccer has really taken us places.
We were at a new elementary school for our final game. Like many schools (and buildings) around here, it was built on the side of a hill.
It was a cold day, so I gave Shane my minion hat. Coach gave him a keeper's jersey and gloves, so he was set.
We almost didn't go. The wrestling coach at my new school wanted to host a get together with coaches and kids at the same time as the game! I was praying and debating about what to do and decided Friday night to take Shane to the get together.
Then Shane's coach sent a "Please come! We're already down players!" email to everyone Saturday morning and I changed my mind.
Six kids showed up. Shane was the only keeper player. The other team has nine kids, but no one wanted to play against their team, so it was 6 on 6.
The boys played a fantastic game. They won 5 to 2 with four different players scoring (and they only had five running around!).
Shane played well and one of the goals was suspect. Shane had hopped on the ball and the other player fell/sat on his head. The ball came out and the opposing player kicked it in before Shane could get up.
I know in baseball it's fair game to ram a catcher and hope they drop the ball. Soccer? I'm not so sure. At Shane's age, I figured the ref could have blown the whistle to stop play when it was clear he had the ball.
We got another "Please come" at the end of the game! The wrestling get together was pushed back and Coach Rick didn't care that Shane was a snotbag that missed school on Friday (That's a different story!).
Shane misses the cul-de-sac life. He played with the coach's kids and then went outside and played with the neighbors.
Well, he climbed a tree and watched some boys play basketball, at least. He was a happy camper and didn't want to leave even after we'd been there a couple of hours.
Shane would have preferred to keep rolling down the hill to the game instead of playing, though! He was mad I forced him to play. I'm not banking my retirement on Shane turning pro when it's such an imposition to take the field.
It was a mixed game with parents and kids. Shane claimed goal and I ran around some myself.
Coach Lee had snacks for the kids at halftime and awards, to boot!
He gave all the kids nicknames. Shane was proud of his.
We had some uninvited guests during the 2nd half. Everyone was trying to get the dogs off the field and back to their owner.....except Shane. The coach wasn't thrilled to have Shane try to rev up the dog he was holding on to, but Shane didn't seem to notice.
We had to rush out at the end. Shane really wanted to explore the playground,...
...but we had some guests at the house! Carrie called me when we were 5 minutes out from the family game. "My parents are coming," she said. "They're on their way!"
Carrie went into a cleaning frenzy. We weren't around to help, so I felt a little guilty. Shane was thrilled.
It was a short visit. Only Grandma went into the house. Grandma and Grandpa mainly wanted to look at all the changes. Grandma was around all week, but Grandpa missed out.
In hindsight, I would have liked to have stayed at family game a little longer after it finished, but Carrie was glad we were home.
And so, our soccer season ended. We had a good coach and some good times. The drive was rough. We're going to try the local league in the Spring to avoid the mileage and try to make more connections.
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