Charlie's Spring Soccer

Charlie played on his first real soccer team this spring.  I saw signs for a league called i9 Sports and looked into it.  They were supposed to play at a field right up the street from our house so I signed him up.  Of course before the league got started they decided to merge the St. Peters and O'Fallon leagues so we got moved to a park a little farther away, but oh well.  My friend from high school Angie signed her son Brooks up to play as well.

We learned that the league is a national organization but is new in St. Louis.  It was a little chaotic on some weeks, but I think once they get their feet on the ground it'll run more smoothly.  They played on Saturdays and each week they had a 30 minute practice followed by a 30 minute game.  My favorite thing about the league was that the jerseys they gave every kid were reversible blue/white.  So each week the schedule told you whether to wear the blue jersey or the white one.  That's genius in my mind!

The first week, Charlie was pretty shy.  Even though his buddy Brooks was participating, he chose to stand on the sidelines during the whole practice and all but the last 5 minutes of the game.

Starting with week two, however, he turned into a soccer machine.  He was REALLY into it and scored a LOT of goals (average of 4-5 per week I think).

On the second week, Charlie won the Weekly Sportsmanship Award (each kid got it once).  They gave him a medal and a sign to take home for a week.

He had a really great time playing with his buddy Brooks.

 The last week, each kid got a trophy.  Charlie was very excited but said he liked his medal more.  Jack was very jealous because in all the sports he's played so far, he's only received medals and no trophies.  Such is life...

In all, it was a great start to Charlie's soccer career. We decided to go a new route in the fall and Brooks and Charlie are signed up for SCCYSA together.  Hopefully it'll be a fun experience as well!

Jack's Spring Soccer

Jack played another session with his same soccer team; this time they were back outdoors through the City of O'Fallon.  They did great and I think they only lost one game.  This league doesn't keep score, but most of the kids and parents do anyway.  ;)

Jack was initially disappointed in the purple uniforms they were assigned, but he got over it.  Coach Tommy gave them the tough name of "Grape Crushers."

Here are some pictures of #7 in action...

One week he even got to play against his buddy Jack (our neighbor):

Here were their team pictures:

Silly Faces!  Coach Tommy, Ethan, Preston, Jack, Coach Jared, Parker, Liam, Carson, Jackson, Connor & Tyler

 At their last game, they got medals...

These guys are really becoming a great team together.  We're looking forward to the fall when they're switching to the SCCYSA league.

Family Beach Pictures

As I  mentioned in my previous post, while we were in Florida we attempted a family beach session.  We got some good ones considering the size of our group and the bright sun and strong winds we were contending with.