Nasa soccer

Justin wanted to play soccer again this Fall, and he moved up an age group to the U14 boys team.  This is a BIG step in soccer as you now play on the really big fields with a lot more running and the really big goals and you play 11 vs 11. 

We really wanted Justin to play with the 3 boys from the last year's team (Justin Hentz, Will Hulse, and Oliver Park) but we weren't sure if we could make the request.  So, while the boys were at soccer camp in the summer, Heather and I walked up to the office and the lady informed us that it wouldn't be a problem at all as they realize that at this age the boys want to be with their friends and that this team will stay together as long as they play. We were elated to hear that! So, we did like she said and all 3 wrote the same letter to the club and assumed things would be fine.  But somewhere along the way, changes were made and Oliver and my Justin were on one team and Justin H. and Will were on another team.  Many calls and emails later, the problem was fixed and all 4 boys ended up on the same team with a GREAT coach - Coach Carlos.  Apparently, he is one of the best coaches and does a wonderful job with the boys.  He pushes them hard but it pays off.  Justin would get in the van after practice and be so tired and spent. But he enjoyed the payoff on Saturday when they would win.

Our boys team was AWESOME!! They couldn't be touched by any of the teams we played. Not only did we win every game, we only got scored on one game (2 points). The scores were really high-like 12-0, 9-0, etc. So after a few games, we got a memo telling the coach we shouldn't score that high. So, the coach would tell the boys they couldn't shoot on goal until the ball had been passed 5 times and they would literally count out loud- and still get too many goals!  It wasn't the most exciting games to watch but their level of play was so good that it was very enjoyable to watch them play.  A few of the players just blew us away at their skill level for a rec team. In the end, they won all their games.

This is our STAR defender Will. He is an awesome player!

Justin in the air

Justin heading the ball

Justin's biggest fan - besides us of course!

So Jennifer wasn't going to play this year due to school. The first night of Justin's practice, I was walking around the fields as I always do and stopped to chat with Mona (Jennifer's ex-coaches wife) who asked where Jennifer was. I told her that she doesn't get home from school in time to make it to practice and that she has a lot of homework and that she is taking online classes this semester, and she understood all that but said they wished she could play.   A few minutes later, Coach Hector walked over and asked me the same thing and I replied with the same answer. He replied that they really needed a goalie, but he understood the time issues. Then a few minutes later, Coach Matt came up and asked about Jennifer.  I repeated our reasons and he was more adamant that they needed her...and that sleeping and eating were overrated and that if she would just give up eating and sleeping that she would have time for soccer. When I got home, I told Jennifer what everyone had said and then we didn't think any more about it.

About a week later, I received a call from Mona saying that the coaches had discussed it and decided that they really wanted Jennifer to play goalie for them but they knew she couldn't come to practice so they were wondering if she could just play the games with them (and no practices). I called them and we discussed it -they felt she would do better without any practice than the other girls who didn't want to play goalie but came to practice. They offered to pay the late fees since we didn't register her in time, and they would supply a uniform kit ($65) since we had gotten rid of her uniforms. And they would supply her goalie gloves and shirt. I felt like she was being recruited.  Jennifer and I discussed it and decided that she would do it. We went to their first game as "spys" to watch a game before we decided but we were spotted and called that evening. 

She did a good job and even ended up playing some outside of the goal when we were winning by several goals and could put someone else in goal. She even almost scored several times.  I do think she missed out on bonding with the team with her not being at practices, but she served her purpose. They ended up with a winning season as well. They won every game except one.  Way to go girls!

This last game was really cold so we all turned our vans around so we could watch from there.