Carrie Flies and Shane Rides

I got educated on the whole setup. Bunny care 101.

I already knew how to take care of all the other animals. I could only put off learning rabbit care for so long.

Friday was that day. The day Carrie left for Denmark.

Carrie, Gay, Barbara, and Barbara's husband, Craig, all flew out together from Dulles. They met at our barn to carpool. 

Of course, I was in my division PLC meeting. When I got up to wish Carrie safe travels, the Geometry PLC voted me as the spokesperson. Teachers have to have senses of humor to survive....and often act like bad students during meetings! I told the division leader I needed to win my Clash of Clans game on my phone before I could present and got a few laughs.

Then it was just me and Shane for a day. I made him pack his bags and clean his room. I convinced him to play some Final Fantasy 2 on SNES, afterward. He's right at the end, so I'd like him to beat the game. However, he so social he won't play it unless I'm there to watch him do it! 

It was a teacher workday, so we had the afternoon to ourselves. There was no mad rush to get him to goalie training on time.

Note: Who is the only kid not standing at attention? Shane. 

I keep telling myself it's good that he's independent and does his own thing. Otherwise, I'd have to focus on him being clueless about reading the room and how his actions affect how others relate to him.

Saturday morning, we woke up, did horse chores, and then went straight to soccer.

The game being early fit our timeline perfectly.

Coach Kent warmed Shane up for goalie. 

He warned Shane that flashy twirls could end up with accidentally scoring on yourself (but thankfully, I've never seen Shane try that in a game!).

Then it was game time!

Chronologically, my game shots are all out of order. I think they're in whatever order I pulled the screenshots or the gifs...., but whatever. The pics I have are fun and it didn't seem worth the effort to untangle everything.

Yet again, I was proud of Shane's play. He was a little timid here with kicking the ball away rather than diving on it, but pay attention to how he got up, kept his eye on the ball, and his body in position. That's what I want to see!

Shane will dive on the ball. Maybe he thought it was unwise or unsafe, but it played out fine. Here's a picture from later on where he does hop on a ball (or lay and scoop, at least!).

I know I talked in early games about how Shane is connecting skills and working more fluidly. Here he blocks a shot, runs to recover, and then immediately starts running up looking for a pass or punt.

Shane's stitching together skills and acting like a goalie. I like it!

Which was good, because his defenders weren't pushing forward any. They hung waaaaay back. At times, they were in the goal box with Shane while the offense was in scoring position.

Shane kept trying to tell them to push-up, but they either ignored or got annoyed with him. 

If you're not a soccer player, yes, the defense does assist the goalie. No, they should not always be right by them. 

By moving up field, they can stop the ball sooner or keep it on the other team's side of play. The other team is not allowed to pass or receive a pass behind the last defenders. It's a penalty called "offsides". 

Shane's aware of this, because he's parroting me. I think he understands the concept, though.

It's not good for the defenders to camp out in the goal box when the other team is on the offense either. They should try to stay between the other team and the goal, but whenever someone approaches, the defenders should be in that person's face. Then they should either kick the ball away or be such a pain that the attacker doesn't have time to think or a lane to shoot down.

Today's opponents were tough. It wouldn't have helped if I bought off the ref by offering him a good grade in Geometry.

That's right! One of my students was the referee! That was a new experience for mem. I made sure to include him in some pictures. I got this gym where perspective makes it look like Shane punted the ball into his face.

He helped Shane fix his gloves here. 

Cuz Shane had taken them off earlier, because he can't seem to tie his shoes in a way that they stay tied for a full game!

I showed the pictures in class and they were a big hit. I got asked if Shane was a good player. I took the humble approach and said that Shane wasn't great, but I thought he was better than average for sure (and my student-referee confirmed!).

Red was good. They were constantly on the attack, so Shane saw a lot of play.

Which let him make a lot of punts (his favorite!).

It's stressful on Shane (and me!) to be under attack so much, but it was great to see him make so many plays. Like here he was far from goal, but kicked the ball away from the attacker and out of bounds.

It's more proof Shane's thinking more as he plays. He decided to do a throw here instead of his beloved punt.

And then immediately raced back to goal to keep it covered.

When I was throwing heaps of praise on Shane after the game, I said there was only one play I thought he made a true mistake on. I don't know why, but he tried to use his foot to block a shot with a kick.

The ball went past him and he was so over extended he fell. He complained it hurt for a while (but it was mainly his pride!).

Shane got scored on at least 4 times if I remember, but (again) the saves were much greater. Red was that good.

Here Shane blocked a shot from outside.

It's really grainy when I zoom in.

Shane didn't catch the ball, but he deflected it enough it went past the goal, had a weird bounce, and went out of bounds.

It would've been in if not for Shane.

The other thing I always talk up is a goalie needs to be mentally tough for the team. A good keeper stays positive, gets back up whenever they stay down, and shakes off mistakes to focus on the game at hand.

There was a weird spin or bounce on this shot, because Shane played it, but it still managed to go in.

There's no shame in that. It's frustrating. I don't think it warranted a demonstration of any kid, but at least Shane kept it brief.

We were loosing when it came to halftime. 

Shane switched to a defender and he learned something new: Pants may be helpful to a goal who dives, but they're much hotter to run around in! I'd suggested shorts before the game, but Shane insisted he knew what he should wear.

The last part of the 2nd half Shane laid down on the sideline saying he was exhausted, overheated, and could do no more! Heat exhaustion is a real thing, but based on Shane's amount of play time and temperature I wasn't worried in the least. I'd told Shane he should bring a water bottle, but he hadn't wanted to go back in to get one. 

After the game, Shane and I went home to let Loki out, load the car, and drive south. Nana and Pop hit traffic, so I pushed further south to a BP gas station at mile marker 96. Shane was excited to see them!

Nana was concerned with how sunburned I was! I don't remember having burn issues during Shane's last spring soccer season, but my ginger-ness has caught me time and time again this one. Thankfully, it was a minor one.

I drove back and then it was just me and the animals. Shane will be with Nana and Pop until next Thursday. Carrie will come home the Sunday after that.