The End of Soccer Season

We officially wrapped up our first soccer season of juggling two kids in the same sport.  It has been a busy fall with one practice and one game or two games every Saturday since the middle of September, but we made it work.  Most of the time, Ron and I had to divide and conquer (with me going to Logan's game for moral support and Ron going to Lia's game to be her personal coach), but occasionally we were able to attend both games on the same day.  Overall, it was a good run.  Although Logan eventually got more confident on the court and would kick the ball a few times a game, we learned that he isn't quite ready for the competitiveness of team sports.  So, we are going to hold off on enrolling him in basketball and t-ball this school year and just stick with a small, soccer class that is offered at our Rec Center for the rest of the school year where he constantly gets his own ball and can just focus on the basics of dribbling and kicking.  On the other hand, Lia's soccer skills and overall confidence in the sport improved drastically from the previous year.  It's hard to believe that last year she was just trying to figure out the rules of the game and would really only play defense as she was afraid to ever kick the ball.  However, this year, Lia totally blossomed.  She really figured out the rules of the game and became a very aggressive soccer player, both on offense and defense.  Her assistant coach commented more than once on her great footwork and how she is one of the fastest runners on the team!  She finished the season absolutely loving the game of soccer and can't wait to pick it back up next August!  I am proud of Logan for sticking with something that he didn't love 100% and that was totally out of his comfort zone and I am proud of Lia for working so hard and improving her soccer skills so much!  To wrap it up, here are some pictures of their last games...

Logan's final game of the season was on Saturday, November 12th.  Here he is out on the court with his team.

Logan and another teammate chasing down the ball.

Logan going in for a kick!

Logan chasing after the ball.

Logan's assistant coach getting the team ready to give high fives at the end of the game.  I just love how little these kids look in comparison to their coach.

Logan "high fiving" the opposing team.

Although the Rec Center does not provide trophies at the end of the season, one of the moms on the team offered to be in charge of ordering them from a local company.  I was really relieved to learn this as Logan had been asking me all season long about getting a trophy and I never had the heart to break the sad news to him that he wouldn't be getting one at his last game.  Here is the excited look on Logan's face after getting his trophy after the game was over.  Look at how happy he is!

My cute boy showing off his trophy and certificate.

Holding his trophy high up in the air!  Logan had told me in advance that he wanted me to take a picture of him in this pose.  Such a cute boy.

Lia's last game of the season was today, November 19th.  She fought a good fight with the rest of her team and finished off the game with a 1-1 score.  Here is the backside of my girl showing her uniform number which was 22.  We all loved her number since she was born on 2-22.

Lia going in for the kick.

Lia throwing the ball back into the game after it went out of bounds.

Lia kicking the ball again.  I just love the angle of her body in this picture.

Lia chasing down the ball.

Lia stopping the direction of the ball with her foot.

My girl walking down the field at the end of the game.  I just can't get over how grown up she looks in this picture!

A spontaneous, team photo taken at the end of the game with Lia's head coach, Stephanie, on the left and her assistant coach, Dan, on the right.  Like every sport Lia has participated in, she really grew to love her coaches and her teammates by the end of the season.  She has always been so social and loves being a part of something.