Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Gooooooooooooooooooooaaal!!!!!!!!!!

Below are pictures of Emma and Luke from their summer soccer program. After last year's experience I volunteered to coach her team this year. Although her coaches last were nice people they didn't schedule more than two practices all season and their game time encouragement consisted of, "PLAY SOCCER!!" as if the girls hadn't understood what they signed up for. Needless to say, she didn't learn much.

This year I vowed things would be different. Although we make sure all the kids get a chance to try every position, most of the season Emma has preferred to play defense. At first I thought she liked defense because she gets to stand around more than at forward but I have came to realize the she simply likes to take things away from people. She showed the same proficiency in hockey last winter. However, being a sucker for the spotlight, much like her father, she expressed a desire to score a goal this season, but not without first brokering a deal for herself. She very wisely convinced us that once she scores a goal we have to treat her to Dairy Queen.

Last night she scored that goal. After the game she order the biggest chocolate ice cream cone I've ever seen. It was enough to feed a family of four for a week.



Luke on the other hand is a prolific scorer, although it's not quite the same thing as he plays in the U-6 level which features a smaller field, no goalies and teams full of kids who have never played soccer before. He is the only player on his team with even a bit of soccer experience. Although they have improved tremendously over the summer his first game was quite a sight. One kid refused to go on the field, one spent the whole game picking his nose while another kid cried every time the ball hit her in the foot. It was almost as fun for the parents as it was for the kids.

6 comments:

Attila the Mom said...

You sound like a great coach! I love those pictures...

What's with the no goalies for the little guys?

Sven said...

Many of the little guys (and gals) are 4 & 5 year olds who are playing soccer for the first time so I think they are simply trying to get them used to chasing a ball around the field. It really ends up being more Magnetball than Soccer. The goal is about the size of a hockey net and yet you would be surprised how many kids miss even from close range.

Rhonda said...

What a good daddy :) And what great photos!

Sophia said...

Ditto to Rhonda - you are a great dad.

Whenever I feel scared about having kids, I just have to come over to your blog and it goes away.

Nikki said...

I made the same deal with Lauren if she did x and y.

She did, GREAT BIG SUNDAE!

When we got home, I made her brush her teeth - like I was trying to get her to scrub away the eventual stomach ache.

Sven said...

Rhonda: It's nice of you to say that.

Sophia: Don't let me fool you, there's plenty to be scared of.
;-)

Nikki: No amount of brushing seems to help, does it? Only 3/4 of the ice cream found it's way into her mouth the rest ended up on her face, her clothes, the sidewalk, her brother...