Soccer Mom

Yep, that's me -- I've officially joined the club. (I figured it was kind of inevitable once I embraced rollin' in the minivan.) :) In all seriousness, though, I'm so excited to have this new title. Brett and I have been looking forward to signing Kaiser up for his first sport, watching him play with a team and take instruction from a coach, and cheering him on from the sidelines. And Kaiser has been talking about soccer consistently since we first mentioned that he could play once we moved to Atlanta. 

Shortly after we got here, we became members of the Y, so it made perfect sense for Kaiser to play on one of their teams. We got him registered in July, and in mid-August we picked up his Decatur-DeKalb YMCA soccer gear. We had yet to receive any info about his team or his schedule, but that didn't keep him from getting decked out in his uniform and at least looking the part.

(Just to clear up any confusion, our son does in fact have arms.)

Go 2-0!

At the beginning of September, we were contacted by Coach Luis and informed that our first practice would be on the evening of the 10th. Daddy had to work later than expected that night, so I wrangled the kiddos and got them to the field (which is at an elementary school not terribly far from our house) by 6:00.

Let's do this!

There are nine children on Kaiser's team; a handful of them have played before, and the rest are playing for the first time. Teaching soccer to a bunch of easily distracted, not incredibly skilled 4-year-olds definitely isn't an easy task, but Coach Luis is laid-back, fun, and just really fantastic with the kids. I'm really not sure who was more entertained at practice #1 -- the players or the parents!

Coach's version of "Simon Says".

Working on stopping the ball.

Porter likes to pretend he's on the team, too.

Powwow at the end.

The players found out that their team name was the Penguins, which Kaiser thought was cool, since we moved from a city with a kind of popular team that has the same name. ;) We had another practice the following Tuesday, and then were super pumped for our first big game on Saturday, September 21. The weather reports weren't promising, but it was still dry at 11:20, when their game was set to start. After a brief warm-up and pep talk, the Penguins were ready to play!

Object of the game: Score as many goals as possible.

Let the chasing of the ball begin!

Unfortunately, the picture above is pretty much the only decent picture I got of the action taking place on the field. As we expected, it soon began to rain, so I had to tuck away my good camera and only snap shots with my phone, which were all blurry. We spent most of the rest of the 45 minutes cheering on Kaiser and his teammates from underneath our umbrella:

Keepin' dry atop Daddy's shoulders.

Her feet got a little damp, but she didn't seem to mind.

Didn't let rain keep him from having a good time!

As for the Penguins' performance during their first game -- well, let's just say that it's a good thing they don't keep track of the score at this level in recreational soccer! It wasn't too pretty. Brett commented at one point that he thought we'd gotten "run-ruled" a long time ago. :-/ Thankfully, though, the kiddos didn't seem too phased or disappointed with their performance. Sure, they would have liked to have kicked the ball in the goal more, but they still had fun.

Saying "Good game!" to the opposing team.

Post-game snack heals all wounds.

After enduring the yucky rain at our first game, everyone was thrilled that the weather for our second, this past Saturday, was supposed to be gorgeous. Scheduled for 9:00, the air was surprisingly a little chilly when we first arrived. 

Warming up with Ella beforehand.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the temperature was up in the mid-70s. And it seemed that the sun wasn't the only thing that showed up to game #2 -- our team did, too! 

 Hustlin'.

Waving his arms must help him kick harder. :) 

 Javier is the real deal.

Staying hydrated. 

Talking strategy with Coach Luis.

 More running...

 Kara's so fast, we've nicknamed her "Lightning".

Look at that girl go!

The kids played so much better this go-round. They were scoring goals left and right. (Like I said, we don't officially keep score...but our team came out ahead.) :) Again, what is most important is that every boy and girl gets out there and has a blast playing and cheering for each other -- and that they did! 

Lining up for high-fives.

"Gooooooo Penguins!"

Now...where's that snack???

And that pretty much brings us up-to-date on my life as a soccer mom. Thus far, it's been a great experience. Kaiser has yet to score a goal, but he talks about it plenty. :) Our firstborn has never been the most aggressive dude, and he definitely isn't one to push his way into the pack. (As you can see in some of the pictures, there's often a significant distance between him and the ball.) However, we're hopeful that with more practice and greater comfort with the sport, he'll have his moment to shine. Until then, he's loving running around, kicking the ball when he can, and being a member of the team. It goes without saying that we're all pretty proud of our enthusiastic little soccer player!