Bunch Ball

Saturday was Tyler's first ever soccer game and he loved it! We signed him up to play with the 3-5 year olds at the YMCA a few weeks ago, and have been gearing him up ever since. On Friday, we got him all dressed in his uniform and cleats and convinced him it was the coolest thing ever. However, we had not really done any practicing other than him kicking a perfectly placed ball, directly in front of him. On Saturday, he had so much fun running around with his teammates, but a moving ball was just too hard to make contact with. So, there's improvement to be made.
Only problem is, there are only 4 players for each team allowed on the field at one time, and each team is made up of 8 players. Tyler got to start, so we avoided that meltdown, but not long after the starting whistle, all you could hear were the 8 players on the sidelines screaming because they were not on the field. Kids were running on and off the field going crazy. One kid just stood at the corner flag and frantically shook it the entire time. At one point, the other team had all 8 players on the field, and a kid that had wondered over from the T-ball fields, mitt and all. It was sooo entertaining. The game was supposed to last 30 minutes, but 12 minutes into the game, the entire opposing team was drinking Capri Suns and eating cookies on the sidelines. They didn't return. Not that our team did so much better. We had one kid who just cried the whole time....on or off the field. Finally, both coaches just gave him the ball right in front of the goal so he could score. He missed and fell to the ground in a total tantrum. On the way to the fields, I was a little nervous for Tyler and how this would go, but in the end he was fantastic! He was so happy to be there and can't wait for next week. Go Dynamos!

Here is Tyler at home gearing up for his first appearance on the field.

Warm up time. Parents were everywhere, but we kept our distance. He obviously didn't mind.

Scott and baby Joel enjoying down time on the sidelines.

Notice the child in the yellow jacket is the T-ball player who decided soccer would be more fun.