soccer jamboree

Last weekend was "jamboree" for MV Youth Soccer- the season starter in which each team plays two short games. Got a few shots of Naomi and Josiah- I ran back and forth between their fields- Jason was with Eva in Ravensdale so we'll post pictures of her another time. Naomi was surprised by being asked to play goalie for awhile... She was great! When the ball came near she had no fear at all of reaching into the kicking swarm to snatch it up. Amazing!

The Strikers vs. The Pink Flamingos. Naomi likes the name Strikers, but her idea (one of many) had been the Red Attacking Apples.

Josiah had a few questions before his first game: 1, "Do you think I'm stronger than a rubber band?" and 2, "What, exactly, is a rind?" Both had to be answered promptly.

Siah scored the first goal of the game- way to start the season!

Warming up with dad for game two.

Every time he came out of the game he had to tell me, "I'm sweaty! I'm the sweatyest kid out there! Man, I'm sweaty!"

The "Green Gators" plan their strategy.

Here goes the season, with three cheers for the Wildcats, the Strikers, and the Green Gators!

soccer this year

Eva's last soccer game of the season was Saturday; her team, Goal Rush, finished off a great season with a win over the Green Geckos. She really enjoyed playing this year, and really improved her skills. Scoring a goal with a left-footed kick was a highlight. Her team was able to really understand how to work together by the end of the season, and the girls were getting very good at passing and looking around the whole field. Amazing progress since the "swarming" days of U-6 soccer! It was fun to watch them all advance.

Beyond learning new soccer skills, Eva learned a few lessons from just spending time with new people...

1. If someone asks you to pull their finger, and you comply, the result may be unpleasant. (This actually happened.)

2. Many girls her age are wild about a singer who puts on a wig and pretends to be someone else- "Mom who IS this Hannah Montana? What does everyone like about her?"

3. Learning that all team members are going to get a potentially embarrassing nickname by next practice can be extremely nerve wracking... Eva was quite relieved when hers turned out to be just Eve.

All in all she had a great time- enjoyed her coaches and their lessons, and had fun with great group of girls. Thanks to all the family who made it out to watch her games, too- she enjoyed her big fan club!

Josiah helped himself to the half-time oranges.

Naomi and Josiah didn't mind coming along as they made friends with the other younger siblings of Eva's teammates. They paid no mind whatsoever to the soccer team, and instead filled the hours with picking blackberries, making "eggs" out of mud, climbing up on a huge rock and keeping others off of it, chasing each other with sticks, and so on. One of my favorite routines of game day was when the game was over, all the children had been gathered and we were walking to the van, Naomi would suddenly ask Eva, "Oh, what happened with your game? It's over? Did you win?" "Yes, and I scored a goal," Eva would reply... Naomi would gasp in surprise... "Yay! Wow Eva!" And squeeze her hard around the middle.