Soccer Saturdays!

Our Saturdays have been jam packed the last few weekends-Ben started Soccer! In addition, Nick is preparing to run a marathon in late October, so he has run in local races the last two Saturdays. This means we are one busy family! We leave the house very early, Nick runs his race, then we rush to Ben's Soccer game. We are a one car family right now, so we have no option but to do this all together. The kids love watching Nick start and finish his races, and there is always something there for them to do-maybe I will do a blog post on that later!

Back to Soccer-Ben loves it! He practices on Wednesday night, and then has a game every Saturday morning. He was super excited when the coach pulled out jerseys and matching socks for all the players. We had no idea he would be issued a uniform. The kids decided to name their team the 'Blue Marlins'-of course at Benny's suggestion! The other mothers were laughing at the name, joking that the kids had no idea what a marlin was, so surely the coach suggested the name. I new immediately that it had to be the brain child of Ben. He had just been to a Washington Nationals game, and they played the Florida Marlins. When we were in the car I asked Ben if it was his idea, and yes, of course it was! Such a funny boy!

Two Saturdays ago, the Blue Marlins had their first game. They play 3 on 3 with two simultaneous games going on. The team has ten players so this means that only 4 children sit out at a time. 3 on 3 is more manageable for the players since they all chase the ball at once! This Saturdays game showed a remarkable improvement over last Saturdays. The basics of soccer are finally starting to click.





Here are the Blue Marlins chasing the ball towards the goal. It's doubtful that it went in, they have lots of room to grow!

Benny loves his Blue Marlins jersey and proudly poses for a picture before the game!

And finally, here are the Blue Marlins lining up to shake hands after the game. It's so fun to watch these boys. They are having a blast chasing the soccer ball around and learning the basics of soccer. Benny spent most of the first game cheering on his teammates. The only problem was that Benny was on the field too! It was incredibly sweet, but he wasn't paying attention to the game. The other team seemed a little bit more together than ours. They don't keep score at this age, but Benny is sure they lost the game. Now he's motivated to improve his skills!

The girls and I enjoy watching Benny play. Sophie plays with an extra soccer ball on the sidelines, and has even found another little sister to play with. And Nick? He has found himself as the assistant coach! Since they play two games at once, the coach needed a parent to be in charge of the other field. Nick gladly volunteered and is having lots of fun helping these little guys, even if his own knowledge of the sport is minimal! We look forward to lots more soccer fun!