Emmet apparently scored his first goal. Leah sent us this amazing photo. It brought back memories of the kids’ first and later experiences with soccer.
Joel played kindergarten soccer, better known as “bunch ball” or “amoeba ball” because no matter how you teach them or practice staying in positions, in kindergarten, its all about the ball, so they all go in one big clump for the ball and move as a group around the field. Joel, tinier than most, was afraid of the bunch, so his strategy, which turned out to be genius, was to stay outside of the bunch near the goal. When the ball popped out, boom, he kicked it into the goal.
Leah, also tinier than most, and who had horrible asthma, couldn’t keep up with the bunch. She ran about 10 feet behind the bunch, as happy as she could be, and never, ever even put a foot on the ball the entire season. She loved it.
Hannah, a year older and about a foot taller than most, stayed in her outside mid position and would steal the ball and dribble it expertly down the field along the sidelines. She couldn’t yet, however, turn or pass the ball, so she’d continue running out the end of the field.
Hannah went on to play on a little team her dad, who played football all his life, not soccer, decided to coach. She attended a summer workshop and ended up having her entire team and her dad recruited into a soccer club. Scott went on to a lifetime of coaching. Hannah went on to big club teams, Olympic Development camps, starting varsity as a freshman, and starting all four years of high school soccer, then getting injured but attending Baker University on a partial soccer scholarship.
Joel went on to play club soccer on a traveling team through 8th grade. I went to every single game he played except one, in which he was moved from his defensive spot to forward and scored 4 goals. I did get to watch him score a goal from the back half once.
Leah overcame her asthma and played soccer through her sophomore year, starting each game and was team captain. She finished her high school sport career running cross country.
I have so many memories and loved watching my kids play soccer. I remember 3 v 3 soccer in 106 degrees. I remember sitting in a full sleeping bag due to freezing weather. I remember standing at the corner of three fields watching all three kids playing three different games simultaneously. I remember watching more than a dozen games in a single weekend, running from one game to another.
I can’t wait to get to Newton to watch Leah’s kids play soccer. Henry has already started apparently, also. And Eleanor could also dribble the ball before she was two.
dianegclark 