Soccer

The first time I ever played soccer I was in 5th grade. I had a friend that taught me how to play and I loved it instantly. Every recess we were out with the boys kicking a soccer ball.
In junior high I played on our school's league. I had a lot of fun, made great friendships, and scored the winning goal at the championship game.

In high school I played on the team. It was fun and I got to know some awesome girls. I had a different coach each year. One was caught embezzling from his company a few months after the season ended, and another was caught being a Peeping Tom a couple of years later. I didn't play soccer my senior year because the responsibilities that I had with being captain of the cheerleading squad were too time consuming to add on soccer. I missed it that year, but I also really enjoyed cheering.

After high school I have played on a few rec leagues. I played on one at BYU, then while living in Athens some friends from church formed a team that Todd and I played on - that was a lot of fun. I've been on a rec team here since April, with only a few weeks in between each "season" or session. We recently started playing in a true indoor league - this is something I still have to get use to, there are no outs, you bounce the ball off the walls, the field is carpet, and the field is smaller, but the game is very face paced. It is my weekly speed workout.

Because of my love of soccer I have gotten the boys involved in soccer. Our community has a league that is just awesome. The games are not competitive, they don't even keep score. After each game someone brings a drink and a treat which helps motivate the kids that don't want to play that day. They have an 8-week season in the fall, then for no extra fee they have another 8-week season in the spring.

This is Mikey's 3rd year in the league and Roger's 2nd year. Each of their first year was a little difficult as far as them not wanting to play, it being cold, and me being frustrated. Last year they were on the same team and Roger probably played a total of 5 minutes. He could not understand why no one was sharing the ball with him - sports is not very conducive to the characteristics we try to teach our children.

This fall season has been so much fun.
Roger has gotten more involved in the game.There were days that I had to coax him to play a little more than others, but he still did pretty good. He scored several goals a game. After scoring he would turn to me, as I am shouting, and give me a thumbs up sign, followed by an "I love you" sign. Here is a picture of him running up to me after he scored a goal. Way to keep your head in the game, right?

Mikey had a lot of fun. His age group was obviously more competitive than Roger's, but he still managed to score several goals this season. He was a great hustler, and I noticed that the more I cheered for him, the more he pushed himself in the game. The best thing for Mikey was that he would talk and play with the other boys on the field, his team or not, he was socializing.
The boys did pretty good about watching their brothers play, most of the time. Sometimes they weren't very happy about being there. Mikey and Roger were on their friends' teams, Jimmy and Jacob, whose dad coached both teams. This added some fun for them during the games they played and during the games they watched. It also added more fun for me that I had someone to talk to, especially since Todd was only able to make it to two games.

This season we were very lucky to have good weather. The boys' last game was the only one that was really cold, last year half of the games were at least that cold. It makes it a much better experience when you are not freezing.

I am very grateful for all the opportunities that I have had with soccer. It really is a fun sport. I'm excited for my game tonight, wish me luck!

**Update- Scored 5 goals! Awesome!