(And while you're at it, you might as well call Jason "Coach.")
Recreational athletics give our family a wonderful opportunity to spend time together, cheering each other on in personal achievements and supporting each other through team failures. Our children are active and get a healthy dose of sportsmanship practice. Overall, we have a really good time being involved.
In fact, Jason enjoys being involved so much, he has been a coach a number of times. This year, he signed up to coach Garrett's cub soccer team and then was asked by the recreation department to coach Spencer's also. I would have had to "put my foot down" if he coached Brevin's flag football team as well. Thankfully, I didn't have to. I did, however, have to attend both coaches meetings and initiate and run soccer practices for both teams at the beginning of the season while Jason was on a week-long business trip to Japan. That was quite an adventure.
Boy, I'm telling you! Cub soccer is where it's at! Games are short, there are no goal keepers, the atmosphere is light and positive, and the children are hilarious to watch. Most video footage I tried to capture during the games is ruined by my incessant shaking due to laughter. It is so funny to watch Garrett run around, working his tongue in and out of his mouth as he chases shadows on the field. He kept very much to the outer perimeter of the group cluster during most of the game time, but we did manage to snap a photo or two of him in the middle of the action:
Spencer was a part of a U-10 team that was young, and most of the kids were playing with each other for the first time. Many other teams had been together for a year. They had a lot of raw talent, though, but they were challenging to coach. Jason and I would work both sides of the field, trying to give encouragement and make players aware of where they were on the field. In the games that they were successful, it often boiled down to playing positions properly. As the season progressed, one thing was very obvious. Spencer was skilled at working the field and controlling the ball. He had several goals for the season, averaging one per game. I know I'm his mother, and all, but I was legitimately impressed:
(Now, lest you think we were running around like crazy, please know that the soccer seasons only overlapped a little with the flag football season and were not going on simultaneously.)
Brevin's flag football season had a record almost opposite to that of last year. Last year his team was undefeated in the regular season and played for the championship in the Super Bowl, losing in a very close game to an equally talented team. While he was still on the Packers team this year, many of his teammates had moved on to the next level and he even had a new coach. They finished second to last this time around. Even so, it was an incredible experience. Brevin's team was greatly improved over the course of the season. They maintained a positive attitude the entire time, and they even had some really unforgettable moments at the hand of some sweet trick plays. I was grateful he had the experience of being on both ends of the win/loss spectrum and could learn to be a good sport during both circumstances. I guess the losses were softened quite a bit by the fact that Brevin had more playing opportunities and scored seven touchdowns for the season. By my measuring stick, it was a successful year.
These next four photos are a time-lapse of one of Brevin's touchdowns:
This post authored by Amber
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