Thursday, September 27, 2012

Soccer man.

Soccer and t-ball are one of those things that are just a part of childhood. I had those awkward photos of the 2 sizes too big shirt, with my perfectly braided hair, and poofy bangs. I played t-ball, not very well, as all the photos I have are either the posed team photos or of Bonnie and me out in the grass picking flowers. Maybe that was just me. 

Milo has asked to play soccer for about a year. Our buddies, the Barney's, are huge soccer fans, and Milo wanted to be able to play something like his friend Jake. My worries were that Milo was going to have the same abilities as me and really not know how to play. 


We signed up to join the Northern Utah County League, and got on a team with a bunch of our neighborhood friends, which makes it even more fun. Maybe more fun for Matt who can do some teasing on the sidelines. But the more I thought about it I realized that a lot of these families are very athletic and their 4 year old kiddos could probably beat me at soccer any day. I quickly warned, Amanda and Candice-two of the other Mom's- of my concerns and they laughed and reassured me it was no big deal.


At our first practice I was a little surprised at his abilities and his desire to play and learn more. He has two great coach's,THANKS ALYSSA and BRANDON, and have taught him so great moves. They both are so good to be supportive and are very patient with him, and all the players actually. 4 year olds are not the most patient and really just want to do their thing but these two coaches do an awesome job of keeping everyone under control. The kids came up with the great name, YELLOW DRAGONS, and we were so excited to have our own yellow jersey! GO #7!!

Got to his first game, and we all laughed at the little bumble bee soccer that was being played but luckily there are some good players on Milo's team that kept ball moving pretty well. Milo had some really great kicks and was able to dribble to ball several times down the field. 


After a few attempts Milo scored his first goal. He was so excited, turned back to make sure that we saw what he just did. With huge excitement came running over gave Matt and I both high fives and then ran back out on the field, with a little extra confidence in his step. I wish that this picture wasn't so blurry, because after that first goal, Milo became a different player. He lined up with his other teammates and started rubbing his hands together. He bent down and made this intense face, like he was out to get those other kids. 


He then had to take his turn sitting on the sidelines. He was heartbroken, why did he have to take turns? Why can't he go out and score another goal? We quickly told him it was part of the game, and that everyone needs to take a turn sitting out. It was then his turn to go back in, and this competitive kid came out again. I have never seen this side of Milo, and was actually relieved to see it. He loved to play! And for his real first time playing was actually pretty good. He scored a 2nd goal that game and has been determined to score ever since. 


I am so excited for this handsome yellow dragon. He has found a sport he loves to play, made some new friends, and is able to get some exercise (he reminds me after each game, how good it is for him to run  haha). He gets so excited for each game and practice and loves to kick the ball with our across the street friend Andrew. His poor sweaty head gets so hot, its that big head of hair, it usually looks a little something like this afterwards, and he wouldn't have it any other way. 


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