First Soccer Season

So, we recently enrolled Kaden in swarm ball.  Also known as football, or to Spanish speakers the world over as futbol.  Or, to those of us who live in the good ole US of A, soccer.

After two Saturday morning practice/game sessions, I'm pretty sure swarm ball is the most accurate title for a league composed of kids his age.

They start off with a little practice.

Then they circle up with the coach, do a cheer, and get ready to play.

One of Kaden's best buddies, Liam, is on his team.  Dan, Liam's dad, is one of the coaches.  It's pretty much unbelievably awesome.

The first Saturday, we dominated.

The second Saturday, we met the Fusion.  Or at least the two blond kids that must be the spawn of David Beckham that play for the Fusion.  Luckily, our kids seemed pretty excited about the goldfish and juice boxes after the game and didn't seem to realize they'd been annihilated.

Here is Kaden, boxing out one of David Beckham's Raleigh offspring.  The offspring probably scored a goal 3.5 seconds after this shot was taken, but it still makes a mama proud.

Ganging up on the spawn of Beckham:

Love Kaden's face in this one.  He seems to be realizing, "This kid's legit."

Here are a few shots to prove that the title of "swarm ball" is rightfully earned.

 Love these two.  I hope they're friends for life, I really and truly do.

Here, the Beckhamite is trying to sneak between them, but Liam's intense soccer moves will have none of that!

Who pulled his jersey?!  My money's on the Beckhamite.  Where was the ref?  Why wasn't a card thrown.  That could have been a game changer, folks.

This kid is our secret weapon.  He's been known to run a ball all the way down the field in the wrong direction, only to turn it around and run it all the way back to score a goal.  It's so cute and exciting to watch.

Soccer is one of the only sports I ever played.  I didn't start until middle school, and I was terrible at it.  Let this be a lesson and a warning:  you can't start a sport in middle school that kids have been playing since they were three.

I may not be a soccer player, but I am a soccer fan.    

A good number of my high school crushes were soccer players.

My husband is a soccer player.

Have you seen soccer players?  Just asking.  

I once told my mom that I was going to be a soccer mom one day.  That I was going to force my children, if necessary, to play soccer.

She asked me what I was going to do if my kids hated soccer.

I told her I was going to say, "I didn't carry you in my womb for nine months for nothing.  Now get out there and play."

Luckily, I haven't had to pull the guilt card quite yet.  Kaden is pretty excited to suit up once a week thus far.