Liam's First Soccer Season

If I were to sum up Liam's first soccer season into a few words it would be these ... entertaining and learning experience! There was never a dull moment during each game and more laughs than I can count. A few of those moments ... Liam lost his shoe in the middle of a game (it came completely off his foot!), the little girl on his team wore a full snow suit so she wouldn't get cold, the ball was often kicked in the wrong direction scoring a goal for the opposite team, on several occasions when he got tired from running Liam would wander around the field just chatting away with one of his teammates, tripping each other on accident because of clumsy unsteady feet, and so many more. haha I loved that it was only Saturday mornings for a 15 minute practice, 45 minute game, and 6 weeks long so it ended right as the weather started to get really cold but it was also about the time Liam was finally starting to get the hang of it and participate more. For that reason I wish it would have been just a couple weeks longer than it was. There is always next season, he'll be that much more ready! He was one of the older ones on his team of 3 & 4 year olds since his birthday is on October and they gave us the option to move him up to the 5 year old team but this turned out to be the perfect age group for his first time playing a team sport. His cute team ...

There ranged from 4 to 12 kids there on any given Saturday so sometimes he had to rotate in and out during the game (which was great because it gave his little legs a break from running) and other times he had to play every minute of the game in order to have enough players on the field.

Kicking a goal during practice!

Ya ya had the best seat in the place with constant snacks flowing ...

And a show to entertain her and keep her from running away or from running onto the field when she got really bored haha ...

I think this particular moment was Liam's favorite of the whole season ... when one of his coaches gave him his medal and pin. HE WAS BEAMING, it was the cutest thing to watch!

After staring at it for a minute he looked over at his dad with this look on his face ... 

He had special visitors (grandparents) there to support him a couple of the Saturdays and I know he loved that they came to watch him!

Besides the medal, he was also SO happy about this celebratory cupcake! Ya ya was pissed she didn't get one. haha

I'm so glad we started him with soccer. He really loves to punch and kick and pretend he is a super hero so we considered karate for a minute but chose a team sport over individual and that's where the learning experience came in! He learned to pass the ball to his teammates and practice sharing, he learned to encourage and support others with a cheer for the other team at the end of each game, he learned that sometimes we fall down or get hurt and we have to brush ourselves off and try again, and he learned that practice makes improvement. So many things he wouldn't necessarily experience from an individual sport. I'm excited to see what he'll pick next and proud of my little soccer star!