Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Saturday Soccer pix

This year, Jillian and Jason's soccer games have been almost exclusively concurrent events. When one plays, the other was also playing, several miles away. Saturday was the first time the played at different hours, so I attended both, camera in hand. Good thing, as I got a chance to capture Jillian's First Goal. Here's how it unfolded.

Jillian (#2) follows along as her buddy dribbles up the field.



Buddy passes her the ball (on purpose, no less... yes, they have come a long way this year), and Jillian tees it up.


It ROCKETS by the poor goalie. (Well, when she's 40, it will be a rocketing shot, as she tells her little ones about it.) GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!


At this point, I was excited. In almost two years of playing soccer, Jillian had never scored a goal before. She too, was excited.


I love the double fist pump, even if I missed the shot.



But here, it got to me. She came over to the sidelines, as it was her turn to be subbed out. And all the other players and parents were cheering for her, telling her "Great job" and all that... and she was so pleased, so proud, she barely knew how to handle herself.



And now at this point... I admit it... I cried. Here is a child who is always so composed, she let herself go for a moment of triumph, and, frankly, I'd never seen her like this before. So I couldn't help myself. You'll forgive me, I am sure.





Final score: Lucky Charms 3, Classy Cleats 9. (Did I mention we're not so good? But we do have lots of fun.)



Jason has a different take on soccer. As you'll see below, he's less... dynamic. He is generally easy going about most things (haircuts excepted, for some reason), and soccer is no different. Unlike Jillian, Jason has scored a few goals. 3 or 4 by my count, 10 or 12 by his. (This is not as amazing as it sounds... his game typically have scores like 18-10.) Unlike Jillian, when Jason scores goals, he treats the event with all the excitement and celebration of, oh, going out to get the mail. That is to say, it's completely and utterly unremarkable. Alas, no goals this day, but here is a glimpse of soccer, Jason style.

Once in awhile, he'll get a boot on the ball.


And he's good for throw ins.


But when you are the World's Largest Kindergartner (for one more week), soccer, especially with all that running around, is hard. At first, Jason finds himself trailing plays... following the scrum* around the field, but having a hard time keeping up with it.


* - Those of you who have attended soccer games with 6 year olds, you know what I am talking about here. Soccer is basically a mass of feet, huddled together, kicking the ball at each other, until it squirts out and into a goal. Once in awhile, a faster kid will end up with the ball at his or her feet, and dribble down the field on his/her own. But mainly, it's all about the scrum.


This is not uncommon... the group swarming the ball has made it to his team's goal line (there are no goalies), and any second now, one of them is bound to dribble it through. Jason, with eyes closed, has given up on the play some time ago, and is 20 yards upfield, thinking about... I dunno, Pokemon?


Another common site, especially near the end of halves and games. Jason sometimes decides that soccer is so draining, he should simply plop down and take a rest. I believe he was waiting on a corner kick here.


Yes, he is in the game. At least he's keeping an eye on the action.




At the end of the game, Jason is always in the front of the line, with the "Good Game" wishes.


He tells me that he's often asked by the other team if he is in third grade.

"Well, Jason, what do you tell them?"

"Not yet. Some day I will be."
If you knew Jason, you could picture him saying this.


- Aw2pp, who isn't counting on any soccer scholarships to help pay for college.

2 comments:

Mike @ Farmstay El Porton Verde said...

First! haha :)
awesome post aw2pp! great photos, esp seeing jillian celebrating!

Always Wanted to Play Piano said...

I think your first may be the first first here.