First Soccer Game

Shane's first soccer game of the season was today! It's been a couple years since he's played at Darden Towe.

I wish more of his teammates were from Scottsville, but maybe he'll run into them again when he's in middle or high school. The good things that you do today may show up down the road, so I want him to be a kind, helpful, and fun teammate!

Shane identifies as a goal keeper. He makes a beeline for the goal whenever he hits the field.

If he's not a keeper, Shane will play defense, but he all but refuses to play offense. He actively avoids dribbling the ball...which leads to him being bad at it...which he notices...and then will complain or half-ass any sort of drills on (I wish I could fix that attitude).

It's a different story when he hops in goal. Shane's ready to roll! His favorite warm-up game is to block his teammates' shots and then punt the ball where they have to run after it (It's a good thing he can't punt the ball further or it'd be way more annoying of a 'game' than it already is!).

We showed up early, because the coaches wanted to get some team warm-ups going on.

Shane played along at first.

But there's something in him that screams "be different!"

And he's not shy about it.

Or too worried about inconveniencing anyone else.

I guess it's good that he perseveres? Or he's creative? 

I'm thankful that I'm not Shane's coach. I'd have whapped him upside the head as he went by. I would've been tempted to yell if I was sitting closer and didn't want to usurp the coach's authority. It's fun to do something silly every now and then, but it's being a bad teammate to disrupt the team. 

It does make for some goofy/fun pictures. Maybe Shane knew that instinctively? I'll be shocked if Shane isn't involved in drama when he's in High School.

No ref showed, so the assistant coach ended up taking up the mantle. He was strict about the kids doing proper throw ins: Both feet had to be down flat! If anyone messed it up the other team got the ball!

And he was fair about it. He'd call it quick and on either team.

The kids got the hint.

Shane was goalie for the first half, but didn't get as much work at first.

But that's okay. It's safe! I enjoyed watching the game and trying to get some cool photos while he was 'resting.'

Shane was a big baby/toddler, but he seems smaller compared to most players. Some of it may be my genes. The rest may be because SOCA uses the calendar year to determine eligibility. Since Shane's a December birthday he's only 4 weeks away from being the oldest of a different bracket.

Random: There are two number 13s on Shane's team. He's one and this guy is the other! I think his name is Pradyot.

I sat next to his dad! He said he was happy to get his son of video games and out running around. I accidentally took this picture when I put down the phone to stop and out of bounds ball.

We (Teal) seemed like the better team overall. We tended to keep the ball on their side of things.

Dark Green who had a big guy who seemed like their best player.

A lot of my good actions shot involved our guys trying to take the ball away from him whenever Green went on the offense. 

It's easier to watch than film, so I normally only turn on the video when it looks like the attack is on. 

I'm biased in that I like to get Shane photos.

Teal did a good job of giving him lots of backup. Whenever Green 14 tried to make something happen someone (or a pack!) would jump on him.

Some shots still got through and Shane got to do some work.

But it's much easier on the goalie when the shots come from farther out and predictable angles.

Shane loves to punt the ball. He said he 'forgot' how to do it the way we practiced last fall, though. He flubbed an early one, but got better as the game went on.

I'll call it early season jitters. Shane got overexcited and somehow half threw a pass behind him, too. 

Nothing bad happened either time, thankfully. I thought Shane played at a B level for him. There were the small flubs and some theatrics, but overall I saw lots and lots of good things. Shane has improved to the point he looks and acts like a real goalie. Here's a shot of him diving and covering a ball. I'm proud of him.

Shane's progressed to the point that his mistakes come from when he's playing on the ball. Gone are the days he sits around in a daydream. I felt for Shane on this one. He tracked the ball, dived, and nearly stopped it. It was so close! 

Shane knew it slipped from his fingers and let his frustration show. 

I would've preferred if he put on a strong/cold face, but I can't fault how he feels. My heart was in my chest on the sideline! With better technique it would've hit his chest and been a heroic stop. I want to find ways to get training for that technique, because I think he'll enjoy the game even more and feel more confident about his play and himself (Also, I just enjoy learning and progressing.....probably more than Shane, so I need to find a way to help him in a way he enjoys rather than burning him out!)

The second half Shane was on defense. He attacked it with....um....enthusiasm.

Aside from the random noises and overacting I was really proud of how he played. Shane attacked with confidence.

Sure he didn't always succeed, but he'd get back up and keep at it. Those are the two things I want to see from Shane even more than skills or wins.

I got some cool pics out of it, too.

I wonder how aware Shane is of me and the camera at all times. Seriously.

Shane was the good kind of tired by the end! I'm so glad he's doing soccer this spring.

I wrote the score down somewhere, but I don't remember what it was as I'm typing. We won or we tied. Honestly, I don't think it matters. It was a good game!

I would've written better notes or a to-do list, but the photos don't show how brutal the wind was! The sun was shining, but the rushing air stole away any warmth I might've felt! If the kids weren't all running so much they would've all been complaining about being cold!

There weren't any snacks after the game, so I took Shane out for lunch to celebrate. He choose Tropical Fruit Smoothies.

A day later, I noticed that I got a slight burn. I'm built for indoor sports or at least being in the shade! We were out for a little over an hour and I don't think the temperature was over 60 degrees!

Several students asked so I got to brag on Shane playing soccer. I've got a few soccer players in the classroom and one kid who's a goalie, so they like to talk about that sort of thing.