Fall Soccer - Primary Colors Version

This fall's soccer season is brought to you by the colors red, yellow, and blue (and, as Nellie insists I add, "Pink!").

All three boys had lots of friends on their teams and we lucked out with sunnier than normal fall Saturday weather. We will take it!

Graham played in a co-ed Kindergarten division, but his team ended up all boys. They won every game thanks primarily to one super-star player (who happened to only be 4 years old and was playing up a level!). 

It was definitely a major step up from last year's preschool play, but Graham managed to hold his own pretty well. He thinks he's quite a good player, but mostly loves the extra opportunities to play with his friends. He really loved these soccer buddies.

Thane's team played in the 3rd/4th division and most of the kids on his team were 3rd graders. They played hard, but lost most of their games. Thane didn't seem too bothered by the losses. He says he, "liked everything about" the season. His team chose the name "Pepperoni's" and they had some pretty great pizza-decorated team socks.

One of Thane's favorite parts of the season is the parent vs. kid soccer game. Once again, Thane played his best soccer of the season during that game. One day we'll be able to transfer that intensity to the regular season games!

The post parent vs. kid game potluck feast is also another Thane-favorite activity.

Bryce also moved up a division this year, into the 5th/6th grade level. He switched back to playing on the team coached by our neighbor and friend, Eric Smith. Bryce's team was super competitive; they only lost one game the entire season.

Bryce had a few super-star players on his team, but the rest of the team was pretty solid as well.

Bryce showed a significant jump in his soccer skills and level of game understanding. He is hard-working kid, team-oriented kid, with a lot of heart.

For the first time, the league held a tournament on the last day of the season. Bryce's team went into the tournament ranked 2nd (out of 5 teams), but ultimately won 1st place in hard-fought games.

It was a pretty exciting day!

Bryce still loves soccer, but this season was even better because he got to play on the same team as his best buddy, Jordan.

Since we had all three boys playing, they often had overlapping games. Mark and I would divide and conquer, but that meant Nellie ended up attending a lot more soccer games than in past years. She didn't complain at all. In fact, she loved going to soccer games! She always found friends with whom to play. 

The City is making improvements to the community park where we play many of our games and recently installed an excellent playground. That makes soccer Saturdays even more fun!

On the rare occasions Nellie didn't have friends to chase, she got creative. One of her favorite games was pulling up grass and putting "sparkles" on a good natured, patient nursery leader.

And when it rained, she worked hard to fill up her water bottle.