Soccer Season

Ella finished up her first season of soccer a few weeks ago. She had practice every Thursday and then games on Saturday mornings, so it kept us busy this fall. 

She was really excited to get started, and the season started the first week of school. 

Here she is practicing with Steve in the yard that weekend.

 

Her first practice

Hot and ready for a water break!

Snow cone after practice one night

Some notes about her season:

- Her team was called the Mighty Mites and she had great coaches - they were laid back, patient, and really sweet and kind with the kids - really great for her first time playing.

- The quote I will never forget was right before her last game. I was hiking up her socks over her shin guards, which is no easy feat, and I said to her "I have to say - I am not going to miss putting these socks on, this is my least favorite part of soccer." Ella's reply to me was "Oh yea, my least favorite part is the quarters!" (which is basically saying the whole game!!)

- She scored exactly two goals, both right at the beginning of the game that Dad was here to see. 

- After her first practice she told me she didn't want to get in trouble for taking the ball away from the other kids so we had to have lots of talks about the fact that if you're playing soccer, it's okay to try to take the ball from the other players. But it's really against her nature, she's not at all an aggressive player and also doesn't like the idea of falling or getting hurt. 

- Sometimes at the beginning of practice she'd make up funny little drills when they were each supposed to be dribbling or kicking on their own. As an example, she'd tap the ball with her foot and run 3 circles around the ball, then run in the opposite direction 3 circles. Even at the end of the season I was sometimes not sure if she really grasped the overall point of the game!

Here she is working on balancing the ball on her head, a very important soccer skill :)

Some pictures from a few of her games:

Ready for her last game!

- Overall I think her feelings were pretty mixed about soccer. She liked practice a lot, liked running around and enjoyed all of the kids on her team, and had times where she was really excited during the games. Then there were plenty of times she said how hard the games were, and she always seemed pretty happy when they got rained out (which happened a lot, so the season was extended a few weeks). 

- The games were fun - she played at a really pretty park just a few minutes from our house, and it was a great way to get some fresh air and start our Saturdays each weekend. 

-And probably her favorite moment from the season - getting her trophy at the little party at the end of the last game. 

She was thrilled, and so proud of her trophy. She's got it displayed in her bedroom and wipes it off and keeps it clean. 

Even though it seems that overall she was glad the season was over, she said she wants to play again in the spring so she can get another trophy! We will see what she decides when it gets closer :).