Tag: soccer

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Soccer Season Summation

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The boys’ soccer season officially ended over the weekend.  I never quite recovered my courage to snap a lot of photos during a game.  After experiencing brutal losses in both their season openers, fear won over even though both teams pulled out respectable .500 seasons in the end.  All I could imagine is that I would be clicking away in rapid succession as we were crushed by the opposition.  Nope.  Could not do it.  

I did manage to at least get a photo or two of the boys in their uniforms.  For Moms that just doesn’t get old.  Every kid is cute in a uniform.

Exhibit A for cuteness

I learned two very valuable lessons over the course of the season.  The first being no matter how much I wish it, dream it, or imagine it, my boys will never calmly get ready for any sports-related activity.  They just won’t.  End of story.

See what I mean?

I also learned that letting go of your kids happens a lot sooner than you think and you never can be ready for when  it happens.  As I watched the boys practice soccer with Mad Dog yesterday in our cul-de-sac (because apparently 6 consecutive days of soccer is not enough)  it struck me, my boys are officially Daddy’s boys.   Sure, I had a great run of about seven years and T.Puzzle has held out longer as a Mommy’s boy, but for the most part it’s over.   The boys are now entering official man territory and while Moms are welcome there, they aren’t the top priority any longer.  Winning, independence and building soccer skills are now their main goals (soccer pun intended).

It was fun while it lasted being the center of their universe.  Okay, if you’ve read this blog before, maybe fun is the wrong word.  It actually was kind of overwhelming and nightmarish at times.   Anyway, I will cherish the formative years I had as their number one focus and thank my lucky stars they have someone as awesome as Mad Dog to look up to in the future.

So, in summation, Full Speed and T.Puzzle learned a little more about life from the lessons on the soccer field (as did Mom) and they grew up before my very eyes.   

It was a winning season after all.

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Water Break

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While we struggled at the onset of the boys’ soccer season, we have reached a nice level of flow and acceptance.    Full Speed’s team has jelled and while they may not win every game, they try hard and work well together.  As for T.Puzzle, we have come to realize U-6 soccer is more a test in parental patience than it is anything else.  It’s good there are only two games left in this roller coaster season.  When we lose, we lose in such a spectacular fashion that it is sometimes difficult to regroup and move forward to the next game.  Fortunately, the kids at this level are so firmly planted in the present moment, they attack each new game with the confidence of an undefeated squad.

It has been interesting to watch T.Puzzle evolve over this U-6 season.  He started off much like last year.  His main concern was when the next water break would be called.  Then he slowly began to be invested in the outcome of the game.  First, he actually focused on where the ball was and what the score was for an entire game (this is impressive for a five-year old).  The next game, he took his defense seriously and to the extreme.  He began to use karate moves on the opposition (he has since been coached on keeping his hands to himself).  Now, he gets angry when he has to sit out a period.  He sits with crossed arms, kicks the bench and shoots daggers at Mad Dog (he has since been coached to adjust his attitude).

Looks like he is headed down the Mad Dog/Full Speed-win-at-all-costs road.

Seems I will be quietly waiting for water breaks alone from now on.

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Don’t Cry for Me Argentina

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I haven’t necessarily wanted to share with you about the boys’ current soccer season.   The first two games of the season were so pitiful, I actually took to trying to disguise myself at subsequent games.  Thankfully, Mad Dog’s mad skills have turned both boys’ teams around.  I can now freely leave my wigs and sunglasses at home.  Look for Mad Dog’s blog in the future called, “Winning is Everything.  One Man’s Journey to Ultimate Soccer Coaching Success, All Thanks to My Beautiful Wife” (or something like that).

Of course before last Saturday’s game for T.Puzzle, I had an in-depth discussion with him that his focus should be on kicking the ball, NOT playing tag with a rascally teammate.   Whatever it was, both squads have improved dramatically from that first week.  While I enjoy when they win, I can walk away happy if they gave it their all. 

This recent soccer success has convinced Full Speed that he is going to be a professional soccer player.  His dream is to play for Argentina so he can be on the same team as Lionel Messi.  I told him I would miss him and that I would do my best to travel to as many games as I could. 

I saw the lightbulb go off in his head.  “Mom, you could just move with me to Argentina!  Then you wouldn’t miss me at all.”

With Mad Dog’s soccer genes and a heart of gold, I predict he is going to give Lionel Messi a run for his money.

Go Team!

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Booted

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Mad Dog on the field in happier, less questioning times...
A football (or soccer ball) icon.
Image via Wikipedia

In Mad Dog’s soccer history, which believe me is full of fascinating tidbits, while he was aggressively thundering through his high school career, he never ever got kicked out of a game.  Yellow card, yes.  Booted?  Not once.

Well, times change.  Mad Dog got himself booted from the last game of T.Puzzle and Full Speed’s season.  It didn’t matter that he was the coach.  He. Got. Booted.

It was the strangest thing to watch.  Parents and spectators alike were beyond befuddled.  One minute the game is going along smoothly, the next the referee marches off the field and Mad Dog takes to the bench.  Eventually, he had to remove himself completely from the field.  Apparently the ref couldn’t even stand to look at him.

This particular referee and Mad Dog had developed a contentious relationship over the course of the season.  She didn’t like to consistently follow the rules and Mad Dog consistently questioned this logic.

I live in a house of questions.  If one boy isn’t asking me something most surely another one is.  These questions can be polite, that isn’t the issue.  Sometimes it’s the quantity of the questions that wears on one’s sanity.

I’m not saying Mad Dog wasn’t right to want rule consistency for his team.  Asking about it a lot did little to help his case.  So what happened?

He got booted.

I have to admit, he handled it like a gentleman.  I’m sure most in his situation would have gone off the deep end when asked to leave the field.  He did what he was told and remained calm.

On the flipside parents were outraged.  Some began to chant, “Win it for Coach!’  Which to the shock of all in attendance, our team actually did (we were like 1-5 at this point and while we have heart, we lack in pretty much anything else required of good soccer). 

We may have played mostly unskilled and unremarkable soccer throughout the season, but friends, this is a season that will go down in history.

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Coast to Coast

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This soccer season has not reached the level of success that Mad Dog’s and Full Speed’s first season did.  I’m being kind here.

I know, I know, it’s not suppose to be about the winning.  It’s suppose to be about the learning and the teamwork, right? 

Who are we kidding?  It’s about the winning.

Sometimes it physically pains me to watch my boys go down in the flames of defeat.  It pains me even more when Mad Dog is in a less than cheerful mood for several hours following another heart wrenching loss.

There are some positives.  I will never tire of watching Full Speed never tire of running the field during games.  His new nickname is ‘Coast to Coast’ because the kid never backs down and will be wherever the ball is at any given moment.  It is a sight to behold. 

Full Speed gets set to head Coast to Coast.

Watching T.Puzzle evolve from the first game has been humorous and heartwarming.  The first several games he sort of ran near the ball but he didn’t like to actually come into contact with it.   Now, he’s mastered some legitimate blocks as goalie and on more than one occasion got a foot on the ball while in play.  These were proud moments for me.

Mad Dog helps T.Puzzle toss in bounds.

Looks like I’m officially a soccer Mom.

Maybe I’m evolving too.