We spent alot of time this fall playing soccer. Kyleigh played U8 again and Katelyn played for the first time in U5. Rusty coached Kyleigh's team and Ridge and I were #1 fans/drivers/uniform preparers/shoe finders, etc.
Katelyn's team was a group of 12 kids. Two friends of ours were the coaches so all of her friends were on the same team. Their age group only played for an hour a week. They practiced for 1/2 an hour, scrimmaged each other for 1/2 an hour, then had a snack. Katelyn made two goals in her first season. The first one was when Mom and Dad were here. Rusty was across the field coaching Kyleigh and I had left to set up pack meeting. We were told that she got the ball and stayed in front of the pack all the way from one side of the field to the other and kicked a sweet goal. I guess everyone was yelling for her and she was so proud of herself. Mom and Dad were so excited that they got to see her first goal, and me and Russ were so sad we missed it. She told us later she had figured soccer all out. She said, "you just get the ball and stay in front where noone can catch you, then kick it in the goal." Sounded like a good plan to us. She had so much fun playing soccer that I think we've convinced her it's O.K. to try new things, even if it seems scary. She agreed to try ballet in January.
Kyleigh and Rusty's team was a really great group of girls and parents. One Dad immediately offered to help coach and by the end of the season they had 5 dads out on the field helping coach at every practice. The win-loss record wasn't very impressive, but the amazing level of improvement made up for it. Kyleigh was the oldest player this year and was a team leader. She proved herself to be really great at playing center and back. Last year she was a bit distracted, often visiting with friends while the ball rolled past her. This year she was a crazy kicking machine. She let everyone know she wasn't planning on backing down and showed her aggressive playing side repeatedly. One violent little soccer player announced on the field that noone could kick past her. Kyleigh told her, "we'll see about that," and proceeded to fly past her over and over. It was fun to watch and she is already asking about next year.
