Austin played his first traveling team season in the short fall season last fall, did the winter training and Futsal over the winter, and then continued on to the main season for traveling soccer this spring/summer. Austin made the top traveling team in his age group (U9 Maroon team) and did a great job playing! The team went 10-6 for the spring season, with a tough loosing streak near the end of the season, followed by 3 solid wins to end the year. They won all 3 games in their Shakopee Cup Tournament and won 2 out of 3 games at the Bloomington Mega Cup, losing the last game in the Bloomington Cup by only 1 goal. They had a lot of talented kids on the team and were able to grow and develop as a team throughout the year. It is amazing to compare this team at the beginning of the fall season to the end of the spring - huge difference!
Austin was a great player in a variety of different positions. He was called "a brick wall" on defense and also spent some time as goalie, never letting more than 1 goal past him in a game. He was a dynamic ball handler and a quick and aggressive player on offense. He was one of the best on the team at being "unselfish" in assisting the goal by setting up a pass to a teammate in position to score instead of just taking the ball to the goal himself. He made some great shots and great goals as well. He has also always been the team cheerleader. He is always enthusiastic and encouraging and praising his teammates for their efforts and successes, even when one of his teammates was criticizing him and spreading rumors in school the day after a tough game. Austin loves to play and brings that energy to the game every time! If I was a coach, that is totally the kind of kid I would want on my team! Way to go Austin! We're so proud of you!
Undefeated in the Shakopee Cup!
Cherry Berry to celebrate!
Then the Bloomington Mega Cup.
Some time as the goalkeeper.
(They wear their bright pink practice jersey when they are in the goal.)
Sarah and Trevor got some play time at the playground before Austin's games got started on the 2nd day of the tournament.
Back to soccer...
Last game of the season!
The team after their last game
Back row: Joey, Gavin, Jacob, James, Logan, Adam, Austin
Front row: Fletcher, Ty, Soren (Missing this game: Charlie)
Goofy faces
With coaches (Danny, Micah, and Chad)
Way to go U9 Boys Maroon Team! Great season! It was so fun to watch you all play!
Austin's cheering section.
Sarah and Trevor had fun building a little "fort" out of the lawn chairs and some towels that Nanny brought. Theo joined in the fun sometimes too.
Sarah played on the recreational team this year for her age group. She had a team of 5-6 girls (1 moved away mid-season) and they not only beat every opposing team, but they won so decisively that every single game had the mercy rule invoked. Every game, Sarah's team would get up by 5-8 points in the first 10 minutes or so and would start giving the other team advantages (like playing 5 on 3, giving them some of our players to help them, making our girls pass 5 times before they were allowed to take a shot on goal, etc.) In the rec league, the point is for everybody to have fun and enjoy the game and to want to come back and play again, so it is nice and laid back and we got to cheer for everybody. We were particularly proud of Sarah when, in one of the early games in the season, Sarah's team was winning by a lot and the other girls were getting frustrated. They backed off and most of the girls had a chance to score, but one girl in particular had not gotten a goal. Sarah got the ball near her own team's goal and when she saw that the girl was in a position to take a shot, she carefully nudged the ball to her so she could take the shot and get the goal. The little girl had a huge smile on her face and we were so proud of our Sarah! Love that sportsmanship (or sportswomanship?)! Sarah had fun playing this year and developed as a player as well. She had a lot of fun getting to play with the big kids for the traveling team's end of season practice in which it was a "parents vs kids" game and the parents (and siblings) played against the boys on the traveling team. Sarah held her own and even stole the ball from one of the coaches! I managed to injure my hip flexor and had to limp around clinic the next day.
Here are a whole bunch of photos I caught of Sarah playing!
Silly face team photo
Last game of the season was on June 25th for Sarah.
Sarah's friend and Kindergarten classmate Reese was on her soccer team!
Theo and Austin enjoying an end of the game popsicle together.
What a fun year of soccer for our family! On to the next season...Austin's tryouts for next year are in about 2 weeks! Until then, the kids are having a fun time this summer doing baksetball camps, golf (Austin), Lacrosse (Sarah), swimming (Sarah and Trevor), KIDS (Kids in Developmental Sports for Trevor), and other fun activities. We are also making frequent trips to the library and Sarah is working hard on her stretching to get ready for her dance competition team auditions in July. The summer is flying by!
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