Austen's High School Soccer AND Football Debuts!

High school soccer tryouts started back on Monday, August 8. And, even though they weren't starting school until after Labor Day, the players still needed to be in attendance for tryouts, practices and games. So needless to say our summer ended just before August 8. 

Austen said he had a good few days of tryouts, and he ended up making the Varsity Soccer team with only two other sophomores (16 Seniors and 4 Juniors). We definitely weren't sure how much he was really going to play with this team being so heavy on the Seniors but now that we're about 5 games in, he's appearing to get some quality minutes playing 70 out of 80 minutes in most games. 

He takes a lot of corners and free kicks for the team too and is figuring out how to play against bigger and stronger players. He's working on getting better on his defending and knowing how far to be off of a player and how much creative liberty he can take to make some runs forward. In fact, I would describe Austen as an offensive player but now his role on this team is primarily defensive. It's going to be a season of learning and growth for him, and if he works really hard at it he can return to the Club season in November as a much improved player. That's what he's hoping for and he has some work to do to get there. He's figuring it out and where his place is amongst all these Seniors, and us as parents are figuring out how to give him some independence driving with the upperclassmen and attending their parties. It's a bit scary but we'll figure it out just like he is, but it's for sure a learning process for all of us.

So we have soccer, and then we get some messages from friends saying that Illinois changed their high school rules about allowing athletes to compete in two sports in the same season. Austen can now play soccer and football. 

I don't know if he's ever really kicked a real field goal in his life but we ventured out to Play it Again Sports to get a ball holder and he practiced some kicks before his tryout for the sophomore football team. They told him he made it and that was that. He picked up his football gear and played in his first game on Friday night. He does share the position with another sophomore soccer player so the coaches said Austen will take field goals and point after touchdowns and the other player will take the kickoffs. Well, the first play, the other kicker gets injured and Austen does all the kick offs and field goals for the entire game. He scores 9 points total and has a great first game. 

His teammates ask him, "So if you get a D1 soccer scholarship and a D1 football scholarship, which one are you going to take?" 

He easily replies, "Soccer, of course."

But what if you get a D1 football scholarship and a D3 soccer scholarship?"

He pauses and says, "I don't know, I'm going to have to think about that one!"

Scholarships aside, I just hope he has a great experience on two totally different sports teams this season (and that he does well in school without that study hall I wanted him to take but he didn't!).

Taking on his opponent in his Varsity debut!

Our #6 practicing his punting