Kindergarten Soccer: Game 1

Well, yesterday we had our first game of the season.  Lots of fun, lots of laughing, and a few boo-boos, one incurred before the game even began when cleats on concrete caused a face-plant and some pretty horrific looking road rash all down the side of a cute little face (not Zozo's).  After some quiet time in the car with her mom, the little girl manned up and played the entire game.  Rock star.  They all looked so adorable in their uniforms.  The shorts were all way too large, even though they were size "small."  They were more like soccer skorts, I guess you could say, since they looked like they were wearing skirts.

We learned something new about kindergarten soccer yesterday.  Or, to clarify, about the competitive nature of kindergarten soccer.  Our school, about a month and a half ago, said, "Hey, lookee there...we've got enough girls for two teams!" And then we pretty much randomly split 'em up based on a philosophy of, "We've met you once or twice, and our girls seem to get along, so yeah, you should be on our team."

Go Team!

Our competitors did things a little differently.  They apparently evaluated their girls and created teams based on skill level and experience.  Then they scheduled multiple pre-season practices and even a tournament to get some experience.  This resulted in yesterday's match being akin to me and my preschool mommy friends taking on the US Women's World Cup team.  While we are indeed some badass preschool mommies, there are just certain areas that aren't our strong suits.

Who had fun?

However, since M's primary goal is to ensure all our girls have a good time, and counts that as a win, I'd say the game was a resounding victory.  After the last whistle had blown, M gathered his team around, told them how proud he was of them, and asked a couple questions.  "Who is tired?"  Little hands shot up in the air.  "Okay, good.  That means you had fun, right?  Who had fun?"  Again, lots of hands were raised.  "And who will come play with us on Thursday, at practice?"  All the girls affirmed that yes, he still had a team and yes, they'd be there Thursday.  Then we fed them Rice Krispy treats and juice boxes just to be sure.

The final score of 5-0 would have been drastically worse had it not been for a tough little girl named Anna, who fearlessly charged the ball and then fell on it countless times to prevent the competition from scoring.  M's taken to calling her The Wall, and I think it fits.  Anna has an older brother who plays soccer, and it's quite apparent she's been blocking his kicks for awhile so some Amazon kindergartners comin' at her weren't no big thang.  How did M know to place Anna in the goal?  Well, before the game started Anna ran up to him and said, "I wanna be goalie!"  M replied, "Well, I just happen to need a goalie, so that works out just fine."  Done.  Kid knows her strengths.

How many players do we have?

M was in the thick of things, as kindergarten soccer coaches are allowed to run the field with their teams.  He knew every whistle blow before it happened, save for one.  When that happened, he looked around quizzically, and I could see the "WTF?" on his face as he faced the ref.  "Too many players on the field."  "Huh?"  He whipped around to look at the sidelines, and assistant coach Bill did likewise as he said, "I didn't substitute anyone!"  Well, further inspection showed a completely empty sideline, devoid of girls in blue and gold.  Our three extra players had gotten bored and decided to join the fun on their own.  Oops.


My child really, really likes to try cartwheels on the field.  And sometimes she prefers to skip rather than run.  She's not the only one.

Parent Tunnel

After the game, our parents rushed the field and made a tunnel with their arms for our girls to run through.  The other team ran through as well, but that's okay.  The whole thing was so freakin' cool.  We have a great team, in both the players and the parents.  This season is going to be amazing.  I am thrilled to be a soccer mom, and a coach's wife.

I made a ton of photographs, the final selection of which is up on a private Flickr page.  If you'd like to see them, private message me and I'll get you hooked up.  I can't post many of them here because their uniforms say their school names on the front.

She didn't fall.
This was to amuse herself while waiting to play.