My Soccer Stars

It's been an exciting week of soccer.

Hailey finished up her last soccer skills class for 3-4 year olds before the break. She just moved into this class without parent involvement and has done remarkably well listening to the coach's directions and competing with mostly boys in her class. She can dribble the ball pretty well for a girl who just turned 3. And, I taught her just once not to use her hands to get the ball out of the net but rather roll it back by placing her foot on top of the ball. She looks like a superstar out there doing just that, running and scoring. Maybe she's following in her big brother's footsteps!

Speaking of Austen, he may have just had one of his best soccer seasons yet. He's been a monster scoring at least one goal in every game and sometimes five to lead his team to a first place playoff berth. His skills have improved dramatically and he is throwing moves I've never seen before. His intensity has also increased which means he rarely gives up even when his team is down. His tenacity was evident during the playoffs this weekend when he had just an okay game first round even though he scored an awesome goal in the last 5 minutes. 

Heading into the championship, I let him know his team needed him to play not his usual 100% but 150% if he wanted to win since his team was missing some key players and now they were up against a tougher team. He answered with some great defense, assists and a goal to claim the first place spot.
His smile was as big as could be and I was so proud of him for digging deeper to be a leader in his actions and words on the field. This kid has potential. I saw it at a young age but seeing his development into an even better player has been a joy to watch. 

Next up for his team is dominating during the next league play and traveling to Florida to compete in an international tournament. What a lucky almost 10 year old!