Soccer

Soccer season has begun.  Well...it's actually almost half over.  This year we are again balancing two boys in soccer and we have added the fact that Dean is also a coach this season.  They league didn't have enough (or any) coaches for Griff's age group so Dean volunteered.  He has two assistants (also parents that haven't coached before) helping him.  The boys are having fun and Dean is doing well at his first venture into the world of coaching little boys (or herding cats as he calls it).  At their last practice he said the the boys were being really squirrely and not listening so he had them run.  Unfortuately they thought it was fun to run. HA!  The parents there (they tend to stick around for practice when it's their kiddos first time playing) were thankful that their boys were getting all of their energy out at practice and were looking forward to boys that would sleep well.

Griff's team looked pretty good at their first game.  They were going after the ball and made quite a few goals.  Griffen even scored one!  The best part was seeing how excited they were to be out there.  The second week, our little Griff got a bit too big for his shorts...The aggressive attitude went a tad far as we saw him say right in the face of a player from the other team, "You're goin' down."  Ummm...yeah.... not quite the good sportsmanship we're looking for Griff.  Needless to say we let him know that wasn't quite the right attitude.  That and the fact the team actually "won" (they don't really keep score at this age.)                                                 

This is during the first game.  We have been so thankful for the beautiful weather we've had each Saturday.  It has made being out at the soccer fields for a couple of hours each weekend not so bad.

Griffen is so cute sitting on the sidelines cheering on his team.  They all seem so little out their.  Their uniforms look HUGE on them.  You can't really see Griff's legs once he is all dressed with shin guards and socks up to his knees and shorts that hang down past his knees and a jersey that almost touches his knees.  It is just about the cutest thing you've ever seen!

I love this picture of Dean with his team.  I only wish you could see more of him.  Austin likes to be Dean's helper and looks SO big next to all of these little 5 year olds.  I am very proud of Griffen AND his daddy.  They are both doing a great job for their first time at this soccer thing.

After watching the little guys run amok all over their tiny micro-fields, it is strange to head to Austin's games.  They aren't quite on the regular size fields yet but their field is MUCH larger that Griff's as are their goals.  They also play with seven on the field and play actual positions whereas Griff plays three on three and everyone goes after the ball. 

Aussie's team is looking fairly good.  Their first game was a tie, they won their second one, but lost last week.  It has been fun to be with basically the same team since kindergarten and see how these boys have grown and being reminded at Griff's games just how far they have come.

Well, we'll be back out there tomorrow afternoon.  Let's pray for sunshine!  I don't really feel like getting wet.