1st Soccer Game

Jake had his first soccer game on Saturday (3/9/13). All kids in this age division are 3 & 4 years old. They don't play positions, they don't have goalies. Basically they are just running around the field & a few happen to touch the ball every now & then. 

The ref talking to the teams before the game

(Note, Jake's team's uniforms were not ready to hand out at their last practice, so they got theirs the morning of the game. That is why none of their shorts or socks match. I know that is the first thing you noticed. Because that is the first thing I did. Because isn't that the most important thing about soccer is making sure your uniform matches & coordinates? I mean, it is to me.)

Now, all of the pictures above, it looks like Jake is a young David Beckham. Right? Confident, aggressive, attentive. It sure looks like he scored many points for his team. Right? Nothing could be further from the truth. The pictures above represent about 1 minute of the 30 minute game for Jake.

Here is what he was doing the other 29 minutes.

Completely oblivious that there was a ball anywhere near him.

Covering his ears because it was too loud the fans cheering when the other team scored.

 Looking completely confused & pouting because Robbie & I wouldn't wave to him for the 100th time from the sideline.

 They don't keep score, but of course everyone could calculate in their head how many times which team made a goal. Jake's team lost 4-2. Technically it should have been 6-0, because Jake's team's 2 points were actually scored by the other team accidentally kicking the ball into the wrong goal. Robbie said our team's best offensive player was the other team. Ha! It is going to be a long season for the Fireflies.

I have to remind myself that these are 4-year-olds. For many of them, this is their first year to play. Jake's team is actually made up of 3 kids that played last year, who are okay, they are just not great at making goals. You have Jake, who is good as long as only he has the ball. But as soon as another kid kicks it away, Jake just stands there & pouts that someone took the ball away. And there is no way Jake's going to kick the ball away from someone else. In all of the pictures above where he has the ball, it was only because he was kicking off. The other 4 kids on the team, it is a miracle if they can just keep those kids on the field (they tend to be wanderers). But, as long as Jake is having fun, I try to just grin & bare it as the ball hits him in the legs, while no one else is anywhere near him, and he just stands there. Actually, a few times, he might have actually ran away from the ball. I guess you can tell that soccer is not a sport we regularly watch in this house.

After the game, I was asking Jake, when the ball hit him in the legs, why didn't he kick it? He said "because I was just watching the game". Oh, okay. What was his favorite part? The Capri Sun & crackers they gave them after the game. Jake will just come back for the drink & food. The soccer is just a side note.