Brandon's playing soccer!



Brandon and some of his teammates at their first practice.  There are 11 boys on the team. 



Brandon, being five this year and starting Kindergarten, is finally able to play soccer through the city's soccer league.  He is on team Cosmos and plays his games on Saturday mornings at the middle school.  They practice there on Thursday nights.  He calls the middle school his "soccer school." He was not too thrilled with the idea of playing soccer when I first announced it to him.  He slowly came around though as he got used to the idea and eventually became very excited about it once he got his new gear.  We took him to the sporting goods store and got him some soccer shoes, knee socks, black shorts and a shiny new size 3 soccer ball.  He couldn't wait to get his jersey and was dressed for soccer by 10 a.m. the next day even though his practice wasn't until 6 p.m!  "I don't want to be late," he told me!

I was a little nervous about his first practice because we had tried basketball before and he clung to us for dear life not wanting to participate like the other kids.  He was more than a year older now, but I was still unsure of his reaction since he didn't know the coach or the other kids on his team.  He was great though!  He participated the whole time.  When he got in the car all red and sweaty I asked him if he had fun and he said that he did.  What a relief! 



He looks a little nervous out their but he had fun. :)



I was unsure about signing him up but very happy that I did after that moment.  After he had gotten upset when I first mentioned it to him that I was signing him up, I doubted that he was ready.  He would cry and say he didn't want to play.  It costs money to sign them up so I didn't want to do that if he wasn't going to play.  After talking with a couple of other parents I decided that it was worth a shot.  The advice that I received made sense:  This is the first year that he can play and the other kids his age would be "new" too.  It would be harder for him to join later when the other kids had more experience and knew each other already.  He was probably more scared of the idea because he didn't know what to expect.  If he didn't like it, at least he tried.  So I decided to go for it and I'm glad I did!

Their first game was rained out.  I had signed up for snack and made blueberry muffins from scratch.  They had team and individual pictures the following week before their first game which I'm looking forward to seeing... He made the goofiest smile!   He didn't score any goals but he enjoyed playing and that's what counts!  They don't keep score anyway.  At this age their just learning to play the game.  He did score a goal at his second game but I couldn't be there to watch and therefore have no pictures.  He will miss his third game when we're out of town this weekend but he'll get to play at least two more.  Hopefully they will reschedule the rain out, too!

Brandon giving his coach a high-five after one of his teammates scores a goal.

"Go Brandon!"

Xander was a little bummed that he couldn't get out there and play too but his day is coming...

Can't forget our little cheerleader!  She enjoys the games as much as the boys do :)

Brandon likes having his daddy at his games!  Hopefully he'll be able to go to all of them.



This goofy boy is enjoying his first year of soccer!  Doesn't he look so cute in his uniform!?