Green vs Green–Scrimmage

Saturday was supposed to be the Kiddos first game but the other team didn’t have enough players so canceled. Our coach is awesome enough that he told everybody to come anyway and we’d play scrimmage against ourselves, 4 vs 4. I’m so glad, it would have be a huge disappointment to the Kiddo if he hadn’t gotten to play. We were there early so the kiddo and a few of the other kids practiced kicking to each other and shooting goals.

…

After a few minutes of that the rest of the team (and coaches) showed up and the kids started to warm up. Hopping from one foot to the other isn’t the Kiddo’s strong point but he tried his best. Passing the ball around his body isn’t easy either, especially when his partner is that much taller then him…

…

After warm up they started the scrimmage. The Kiddo is still relearning to run and rebuilding his legs muscle stamina so we knew the he might have problems here. We are extremely proud of him though he tried throughout the entire game. He ran his fastest and even when he was exhausted he still kept trying. I’m pretty sure he managed to kick the ball once near the start of the game and I watched him get it and “dribble” it twice towards the end.

…

…

I think along with working on kicking and passing the ball I will also try to teach him how to anticipate where the ball is going. Maybe instead of running after the ball and the kids he can run to meet it. That’s a hard thing in soccer but it would make his life a bit easier and still keep him in the game.

….

They ended the game a little early and then let the kids play cowboys and indians. The ‘cowboys’ stand on the sidelines and kick the balls at the ‘indians’ who run down the center and try to dodge. If the runners get hit they become cowboys for the next pass, the last person to get hit is the winner. The kids love the game! The Kiddo says he gets hit fast because his “high jumpers don’t work very well” but he doesn’t mind because he likes being a cowboy too.

…

The Kids were given oranges as a halftime treat and brownies and juice as an after game treat. The Kiddo is so excited that he’s in a ‘real sport’ where they get treats and get to be a team wearing matching uniforms. I think soccer will be really good for him and I found out that if (when) we sign him up for next year we can request to keep his current coach, that way he’ll keep playing with the same kids every year and he’ll stay with a coach who knows how to work with him.