Soccer Stud

Our sweet little boy is now playing soccer.  We'll use that term loosely, as I'm not so sure how much a just-turned-3 year old can grasp soccer, but I must tell you that it's stinkin' adorable!!! 

First off, I can.not.believe. that I am the stage in my life that I am standing along the sidelines watching my son play a sport.  Ummm, wasn't I just  standing along the sidelines for my big brother's soccer games, or going to watch Mat's little cousins play in a league?  Surely, I'm not old enough to have my own son be playing!  Ahhh, where does time go?!  Surreal!

We found out about this developmental league through a friend.  It's perfect, and we were so excited to be able to join in.  It's just for 6 Saturdays in a row-1 hour total.  A 25 minute practice, a little break, and then 25 min. game.  It's coached by parents (Yup, Mat's a coach) and supported by one of the local universities.  So, some college soccer players come out and lead the practice while the coaches just help out, and then the coaches are on the field encouraging and helping throughout the game.  It's 3 year olds only and only 5-6 kiddos per team.  During practice every kid has a ball, so they all get a chance to practice the skills at the same time.  Then, during the game all kids play so no one is left out. 

A couple weeks ago, I went to pick up MJ's soccer shirt.  It comes down to his knees!  Bought his first pair of shin guards and soccer socks, too.  Cuuuute!  No cleats for this kid yet.  I refuse to spend that much money on shoes that he'll outgrow before next season.  We'll see if he even likes it first. 

In true MJ fashion, he took awhile to warm up to the idea.  He was all pepped up on the way to his first practice/game, and then as soon as it was time to actually start he wanted nothing to do with it.  He spent the first 10 or so minutes either crying or being held on the sidelines by me while Mat was trying to help the other kids out.  Also, one of his little buddies was playing on the field right next to us and he surely didn't understand why he couldn't just go play on that field!  After being a spectator for a little bit though and seeing how fun it looked he was ready to give it a try, and from then on had an absolute blast!  He mostly just loved running all over the place I think.  :)  Watching a swarm of three year olds follow a ball around is quite entertaining.  There were one or two kids on each team that actually semi-cared about kicking the ball into the goal, but for the most part it was just silly run around time following a ball.  MJ told me he scored 5 goals.  Hey, at least he's confident in his abilities!  ;) 

A little footage from Game 1.  Go, MJ!!