Skills!

We've had a busy fall in spite of COVID with soccer games x 3 (well, really scrimmages for Hailey and Peyton) and fall ball baseball as well as swimming for both girls. 

Hailey at kick off w/the hat

Hailey says that soccer is her favorite sport. She's learning lots of foot skills and utilizing them on the field right now. She has a better "scissor" than Austen at this age, that's for sure. You can see her doing one in the video below. She's lucky as one of her parent coaches is Austen's old travel coach. High level coach for rec soccer so she's learning a ton. Hope it continues or I may have only one soccer player in the family.

Peyton continues to swim on her development team and loves it. She plays soccer for fun and definitely is one of the better players among the 5th/6th graders. She's naturally aggressive which bodes well in soccer (something my other two don't have). She's scored a bunch of goals and can take it up the sidelines when she wants to as well. Plus, she's grown a ton and is almost 5 feet tall now so her size definitely helps her power through some players. I'm pretty proud of how she's done this season and how much she wants to impress the 6th graders. 

Austen continues his fall ball season and will play for the championship this week. His hitting has been sporadic after having a stellar travel season and finishing with .415 batting average. But two games ago he hit a double so he still has it but he's playing with the big kids (9th graders) this year so sometimes he says that they are pitching really fast too (good practice). Still he continues to work hard at his hitting and as always still a very solid field player at shortstop or center field. As for soccer, he loves his new team and his coach. He's still finding his footing as for game play and how much he can contribute offensively while still playing defense. I have not really seen the Austen that I know bring it like I know he can. This could be because they are playing at a really high level and his style of play has changed and the new coach wants different things from him. All good. I just think it will take him a bit to get into a groove and be a little more selfish with the ball. His team needs him offensively and it would be nice to see him start to score again. A growing year for sure.

Thankfully,we've had these fall sports to keep the kids busy and active. I'm not even thinking about winter and how that may be moving forward. Hailey wants to play basketball and Peyton will continue to swim. Baseball will start for Austen and I'm not sure how soccer will shape up. Will the kids all be wearing masks indoors while playing?! I think so!

Austen in action