The joys of soccer....

My friend Kristen and I coached the 8-10 year old soccer team this year and enjoyed watching each and every one of these kids grow and improve throughout the season.

The picture above not only shows Lex making an excellent throw-in but depicts a few of the different personalities that Kristen and I coached this fall. Please take note of the child with a cone on his head, one losing control of her ball, but, kindly trying to duck under the throw-in, while another sits on the bench ready to go in, or wondering what the kid is doing with that cone on his head. This picture makes me laugh simply because all Tob was trying to do is get a decent picture of Alexyss when he captured so much more.

As for Alexyss, I couldn't be prouder. This little girl has improved so much this year and just loves to play. She enjoys playing center forward the most, much like her brother where she can be right in the thick of things. Not much intimidates her and she has been a pleasure to watch play as well as coach. She scored her first goal this year when her brother insisted that she would be taking a free goal shot because she hadn't scored yet. Everyone listened to him, the ball was given to her where she shot perfectly for the corner and scored.

Nojah has improved as well, perfecting his ball handling skills, playing hard, while having a great time. Being one of the older kids on the team he was expected to be a leader and set a good example, which he enjoyed at times and not so much others. Sometimes I think it's as hard to be the "coaches kid" as it is to coach your own kid.

On a side note for some reason I have the children who's shoes are NEVER tied. Generally it's Nojah and he just chooses to not tie them, which is probably why I do not have a photo of him in the middle of the field trying to remedy the problem like his sister. I can't even count the times I have had to tie that kids shoe and you would think this would bother him (having his mommy tie his shoe and all) since he is in 5th grade and 10 years old, but much to my dismay it doesn't bother him, not one little bit.
I guess I should enjoy it while I can because it won't be long and he will grow out of wanting me to tie his shoes, and start using the word "mom" instead of "mommy" and stop crawling up into my lap and offering fewer public hugs and kisses.

One of our proudest accomplishments as coaches for the season is that each and every one of the kids on the team have scored a goal and hopefully are enjoying themselves along the way. They have not only improved their soccer skills, but also the importance of good sportsmanship and have done an excellent job of demonstrating it throughout the year.
I have learned more about soccer, coaching, and myself along the way as well and I have to thank my coach cohorts, friends, parents and kids for all their guidance and support. It's not always an easy job, but always proves to be well worth it in the end.