2nd Soccer Games - Fall 2006

Today we enjoyed a windy and hot day on the YMCA soccer fields near our home. At 11 AM our middle M played in a game that was very one sided. A kid on the other team actually knew what he was doing and scored about 8 goals by himself. Our son got to kick the ball on a kick off (our team had a lot of practice doing that today) and kicked the ball one other time in live action. At times I saw him more fascinated with the dirt and grass on the field than the actual game - he is 3 years old so we will work on that competitive drive in the future (you would think that it would come naturally to any child of Melinda's). When I asked him what his favorite part was, he answered "eating snacks" - guess he is a little more like me in this area.

Our oldest M had a game at noon that was a little more exciting if you like winning. Our team dominated the other team and had goals by several different players. Our daughter is more of a defensive stopper and played the role well today. She was in the right position most of the time and did a nice job today. One of her kicks actually went airborne (this is a very rare event for kids her age in the soccer games that I have seen) and traveled over approximately half the field against the wind. The kick impressed us all. As Coach DeWayne mentioned the first week, the other team will always remember the day they played the Titans....okay they probably won't but it did get a chuckle from the parents of the Titans.

Melinda helped Coach DeWayne on the field today. As DeWayne has mentioned on more than one occasion, coaching children's soccer is kind of like herding cats. Running up and down the field and helping the kids get in position, wore Melinda out but it was great to see her back helping the team. She plans on taking over my role as assistant coach of the Titans in practice and helping out our middle M's team as well - they are called the Jaguars (I think). DeWayne originally agreed to coach while Melinda recovered from having our new baby but Melinda's current health situation doesn't allow her to be the main coach right now. DeWayne has been a huge blessing to us and all the kids that he coaches - and I think he is having fun as well.

P.S. The pictures at the top of the page are from last Spring's season when it was obviously a little cooler. They are the only digital pictures we currently have of soccer.