Spring Soccer for Seth

(Here's another longer, journaling entry, mostly for grandparent's and relatives' sakes. I should have made it into a few shorter posts, throughout the season, but alas, I didn't. Here's one big conglomeration. )

When Seth got the chance to start playing the goalie position halfway through the spring soccer season, he got really excited, and more into it. He's always liked soccer, but he loves it even more now. (He says he'd rather do soccer than football, and that's fine with me!) He played goalie as a 4 yr old when we lived in Amarillo, but then didn't play it for a few years. He likes playing soccer school recess, but of course, there are no referees there, so there's a lot of unfair play. But his confidence is growing, and he feels like he fits in and is capable, and helps out the team. He used to think most of the other boys were way better than him here, especially since it's more in their ure among the Hispanics, to play soccer. (And b/c we don't play with him at home much.) But he was pleasantly surprised to realize that he's comparable to some of them, and he's continually improving. Whenever we can't find him inside, we find him outside kicking the ball around.

He likes playing defense way more than offense, but he's getting better at offense too. It's just kinda strange when he's used to being "nice" because of how we're trying to raise him, and then trying to switch attitudes on the soccer field, where it's okay to take the ball away from the other team! I told him it's okay to be "assertive" on the field, and that's just how the game is played, and he's getting used to that.

(Before the haircut.)

This next picture was his second game playing goalie this spring. Even though he blocked at least about 8 attempts to score from the opposing team, this one picture was the one goal they did manage to get past Seth. Kind of a funny picture. (It was raining, so we were sitting in the back of the van.)
In the same game, he also scored a goal. Which at first, I wasn't sure about, because he didn't jump up and down and cheer. Then I realized it really WAS him that scored, b/c if it had been his teammate, he would have cheered for him more.

Even though the goalie stays back in the goal box, they still get a good workout, running all over to block shots. I didn't realize that before. He seemed to get hurt more too back there (kicked and stuff.) I for sure wouldn't be brave enough to grab a ball when another player looks like they're about to kick me in the head!


(Seth is number 56.)

He had a GREAT coach too. One who's all about these younger boys getting to play positions all over the field, and just have fun. He had to put up with a lot of stuff from other more competitive parents. And he even gave rides to Seth a lot! Which was SOOO nice to help out our family. We're grateful Seth had a positive experience this year, and I'm happy for Coach Moyer and his family to be done coaching! (I wish I'd got a picture of them giving High-Fives to each other, but I always missed it. Here's his good buddy Anthony though!)

I'm not the greatest "soccer mom" either. I don't cheer as loud as the other parents, and I never keep track of the score. If one of my friends are there, I'll yack with them and not hardly pay attention to the game. And of course, I always have to keep following Bridger around to some extent. (Aspen's a great help with him too, so I didn't have to run all over with him being big and pregnant.) But this year, I didn't have friends there often, so I actually watched the game more, and it's getting more and more fun to watch now! I'm finally understanding why others enjoy watching so much. Some of the boys are REALLY good. It IS fun to watch!