My little soccer stars!

We are two weeks in to another sports season. This season, both Holden and Pax are playing soccer. Last season, Pax chose baseball (t-ball actually). He liked it ok. We did not. It was so stinkin' boring. It was a group of clueless 3/4 year old boys and girls. Dads/moms/guardians were on the field with the child. It was just chaotic. It made it worse that the coach did not want to be the coach, showing up as the game was starting most weeks. Nothing was learned. It was something we could do in our own backyard and it would have been better. So I will admit we steered him away from t-ball this season. When he chose it last time, it definitely sounded like it would fit his laid back, slow moving 4-year old personality. But because of his young age and the set up, we called it quits on t-ball once the 8 week season was over. And we strongly encouraged soccer this season. We knew that it might not be his match, but we thought it was worth a shot. Since Pax had sat through two seasons of Holden playing soccer, he jumped on the soccer train easily.
And by now, Holden is a soccer pro. As I mentioned, this is his third season to play. Jeremy has mentioned flag football and basketball to Holden. We think it would be fun to introduce him to some other sports, but his heart is sold out for soccer right now. The boy just loves to run so we know he needs an active sport where he can run it out. This season he is on a 5/6 year old team and he is about a head taller than everyone on his team (and most opposing teams). He'll be 6 in a month!

We love I-9 and that it doesn't cut into our family time during the week. The teams practice for 45 minutes before game time. So with two boys playing this season, we basically commit our Saturday mornings to soccer for 8 weeks and then we are done. No weekday evening practices involved. This is the perfect way to do it for our family.
So this past Saturday was the second game this season. The first week, I didn't really get to see Pax's game. Holden and Pax's practices and games tend to overlap, so Jeremy and I have to divide and conquer. So we are taking turns getting to see each boy. So this past week, I got to watch Pax play in a game. He floored me. My laid back, slow moving boy was not the same boy on the soccer field. He was a little speedy runner and went after that ball. His mind was in the game and his eyes were on the soccer ball (most of the time). And he was really really good! He even scored a goal! I was so so proud! Soccer is not going to be his big brother's sport and he let us know that last week. I was so proud to see the way he played and that he enjoyed the game so much. Each week a child receives a medal. Pax earned the medal last week. He was beaming! He looked my direction to make sure to make sure I was watching as soon as the coach slipped it around his neck.

And what do you know, Holden also had a great game. He scored the first goal for his team and then scored for the opposing team as well. This happens often with Holden. :) The boy is very fast so he is naturally first to the ball most of the time. So he handles the ball often for his team. We've begun to talk about passing, but there is typically no teammates ahead of him to pass too. :) He just gets better and better every season. Holden also was rewarded the medal on his team last week, which was really neat. They both played great games and were the highlights of the team on the same week.

And both boys look forward to their Saturday practices and games each week. Not to mention that it's a fun time for us to watch them play. And this little sign has been in our front yard all week for the boys. :)