GO SEA SIDERS!

Aaron was able to get on a great soccer league through parks and rec. It's 6 weeks with 1 game and 1 practice per week. The coaches are parent volunteers and also double as the ref during the game. I really like this aspect of it because the coaches take the time to teach during the play of the game. We really lucked out by getting the coach we did. Mike Tighe loves the game and his intensity shows. It's somewhat comical to watch as you can see him reminding himself that they are 3 and 4 yrs of age and not the star athletes he has envisioned. They chose the name Sea Siders for the team. It's a nick name of a team from Britain. (The coach's wife is from England.) The games consist of 4 quarters of 6 minutes each. Welcome to the world of little league sports. We are THRILLED to be here.

In the first game we learned several things about our son. 1.) He needs bigger shorts. 2.) He needs shin guards. I didn't think it would be an issue at this age but every time he got in a group I was cringing. 3.) He's pretty darn good.

He had several breakaways where he took the ball all the way down the field with the rest of the players behind him. Coach was very excited about this, as were we. Going into the game Bill was making me promise not to be too loud. I, several times, had to remind Bill to keep it down. It was SUCH A BLAST! The score ended up being 2-2 with the other team scoring all 4 points. The other team was all hispanic and looked as if they had been playing soccer since birth. They could dribble very well and kicked the ball HARD! It made us laugh. At one point there was a lot of excitement that Aaron had scored a goal. He had brought the ball down field and then it went in, but no one could see. It turned out to be the other team, but we were excited for a while. Funny things are bound to happen with this age. One of the boys on Aaron's team is on the younger side of 3 and very timid. He did not want to be on the field. When his dad started calling to him, "Mikey, get the ball!" Mikey ran to the sidelines and picked out a nice shiny blue one amidst all the practice balls.

Of course the best part is the snacks!

Of course my camera skills need improvement. By the time I realized he was breaking away and got the camera filming things had changed.