Soccer Recap

Yesterday was Saturday which in our house is better known as Soccerday. We had three games which had some of us out and about for quite a while. The first game of the day was JADs which took us up to Castle Rock, a good 45+ minute drive north. The wind was fierce, but the boys easily won their game, scoring 4 goals in the first half. JAD scored goal number 3 from the 18 (the goalkeeper's outer box). The keeper came out for the ball and JAD easily bumped it around the keeper and put it in the back corner of the goal. Throughout the game, JAD moved around into different positions: he started at left defense, moved up to striker (forward), back to right d, then up to center midfielder (his dream position). The coach decided to move boys around because we were clearly the dominant team and he didn't want the butt-whooping to be too bad. It was good experience for the boys to play in positions that they normally don't, however, and the parents there certainly enjoyed the game.
After going to JADs game, MAD, JAD, and I headed back down to the Springs for JEDs first game of the season. K had to drop him off at the game because CED had a game that started soon after the beginning of JEDs game (getting a feel for our crazy Soccerdays?). JED has really made improvement in his soccer playing. He actually PLAYS now - no looking at the sky, no skipping around the field, etc. The boys on his team are another story. One was doing cartwheels across the field during actual play. Another was rolling on the ground after being 'bumped'. Somersaulting, actually. At times I wasn't sure if we were watching a soccer game or a gymnastics match. Parents were heartily yelling praise at JED (maybe because he knows how to play soccer???) and very certainly cheering on their own little player.
It's funny, though, watching the parents of developmental players. I am pretty sure that I was the only parent there where my player was NOT my oldest child. Every move on the field brought a 'good job!' or 'great job!' from parents. Including the cartwheels. No, I do not joke. So very different from the competitive games of CED and JAD where parents are cheering on the team, but also not afraid to point out where mistakes are being made. Now, don't get me wrong. We don't yell at our kids constantly and we aren't negative. But if a kid makes a bone-head move, I guarantee you'll hear most of our parents saying something to that child so they don't do the same thing again.
At the end of JEDs game, he was recapping the game for his brother and me. Scores aren't kept at this point (developmental never does), but I can tell you that JED keeps score. His words were "We lost. The score was 10-1. I think it was supposed to be 11-1 because a kid scored on a throw-in." Ouch. Thankfully he really didn't care. Today.
We high-tailed it away from JEDs game so we could go to CEDs game, about 10 miles away, and made it there at half time. When we arrived, the game was tied 0-0. Our girls were certainly the dominant team, but struggled with the follow through and actually scoring. The game was predominantly played on the other team's half of the field which attested to our forwards' and midfielders' abilities to keep it down there and the other team's weakness in their midfielders and defense. In the last two minutes of the game, our girls finally scored! It certainly was a nail-biter, but exciting nonetheless! The girls have started their Spring season 3-0 and have not allowed a single goal to be scored against them - thanks to the incredible defense they have, which, ahem, CED plays. After the game, the club owner (who stayed to watch the game) informed the girls that they are the ONLY Corinthians team that has gone undefeated this Spring season. Go Roadrunners!
So, another fun day of soccer. Next week we are headed to Denver and Vail and Colorado Springs. Yep. Three games. Three very different locations. Go us!