First Soccer Game

Saturday was Anden's first official soccer game! He was so excited! Here's a recap of the events...

Ouch, my cleats hurt!

Ouch, my shin guard strap is too tight!

I don't want to wear those socks!

I want the green side of the jersey not the white!

When's grandma coming?

Is Grandma here yet?

I can't reach my soccer bag!

I don't see Grandma!

Where's Grandma parked?

Did you bring snacks?

I don't want that water bottle.

Taylee's touching my bag!

Taylee's looking at me!

I can't find Grandma!

Where's Grandma's car?

And that was just on the drive to the game.

Now for the kick off. It's 5 on 5, no rules, no refs, no goalies, 20 min halfs. Sounds easy enough right? Well clearly that wasn't the case. Our team consists of all 3 yr olds minus the two 4 yr old ringers. The other team was clearly ALL 4 yr olds. They understood the simple rules like don't touch the ball, kick in the right direction, don't knock over your own teammate, sit on the sideline when you're not playing, which goal was which, etc. We, on the other hand, couldn't even bribe 5 kids to play at the same time. So most of the game was 5 on 2 and possibly 3 for about 30 seconds. Albeit, it was 100 degrees and I was dying of heat just watching. So I can't hardly blame the kids for not wanting to play.

Anden started the game and "played" strong for about 5 mins all while keeping his eye on Grandma to make sure she was watching him. For all he knew he was in a race match, not a soccer match. He was just loving running with the kids, with his head cocked sideways staring and grinning at us the whole time. Then as the intense action made a break down our sideline, he darted from the pack and over to us. "Hi Grandma! Do you have any snacks? Do you want to go to McDonalds with me and get an ice cream cone?" We quickly reminded him the game was in progress and attempted to shoo him off. But not without a quick handful of chex mix. That was successful for another 30 seconds before he was back. "I'm tired. I'm hot. I want that water bottle. Hi Taylee. Hi Papa. Grandma can I sit on your lap." We unsuccessfully tried to coax and bribe him back out to play. But he had officially abandoned his 2 teammates on the field. Grandma was clearly way more enticing than racing the kids. Luckily half time started and that meant orange slices. So off he darted to his team to scrounge more food for his withering away starving body.

After half time, his team disappeared. Literally, we only had 4 kids left. The others must have found a tree to climb, bug to chase, rock to throw or shade to hide in. Anden was there physically but not as a contributing member to his team. We bribed him out there and all he wanted to do was "block the ball". So he stood there with legs and arms spread out as far as they could physically stretch....and proceeded to block his own teammates from scoring. Oh well, at least our kid wasn't crying in the corner or hanging from a tree branch.

Needless to say, it's a good thing they didn't keep score! (Well I'm sure the other team was! We chose to "lose" track of those insignificant numbers) Three year olds playing soccer is the best! I can't wait for next week!

Pre Game Warm Up

Pre Game Team Huddle

Practicing "no hands" approach

5 on 3

Snack Break Time