Ian's first soccer game!

Nadia started playing soccer in the spring of 2013 when she was 4 years 9 months old. She could have played in the fall of 2012, but life was a bit hectic for us then with Oliver being on oxygen and adjusting to life with three ages four and under. This fall is the first season that Ian is eligible for soccer due to having a December birthday, and he'll turn 4.75 years old in six days. There were three firsts today - Ian's first soccer game (U6), Nadia's first U8 game (all girls and they play 5 on 5 compared to 3 on 3 in U6), and Paul's first time coaching a soccer game. There aren't any goalies or refs for U6 or U8 games. The U8 field is bigger than the U6 field but still is a bit smaller than the fields used for U10 and up. Nadia is still wearing her same uniform that she's had for 18 months, and it's finally starting to fit her nicely. Ian is wearing the smallest possible uniform (youth extra small), and it's WAY too big on him. I had to pull the string all the way and tie it as tight as possible or the shorts kept falling off of him.


The two kids only have their games in the same town ONE time this season, and there are eight games in a season. The other seven weeks we'll be driving in between their two games. Three of those times the games are back to back, which means that Paul can't make both games in their entirety. Today Nadia's game was at 11:30 in Milton, and Nadia's home game was at 12:30, and there is about a 15 minute drive between the two locations. Since the head coach of Nadia's U8 game couldn't make today's game, Paul needed to stay for that entire game. He was very late for Ian's game; the third quarter was in progress when Nadia and Paul showed up. The U6 team splits in half (there are 9 kids on his team) so that they get more playing time so two coaches are needed as they are playing on two different fields. There are 8 kids on Nadia's team, but two of the girls couldn't make it to today's game. It was a very warm day (in the high 80's). Thankfully we're supposed to start having cooler temperatures tomorrow (70's).

Ian hasn't been doing that well at his soccer practices, which surprised us because this boy has LOVED to run for a few years. He wasn't assigned to play the first quarter today, but he played the other three quarters. He got off to an amazing start. It helped that their best player was sitting out that quarter. He had a breakaway and almost scored a goal! I was screaming my head off!! I was only able to see half of Nadia's game. I'm envisioning how crazy our Saturdays will be if at some point all three are playing soccer on three different teams. At least at that point I won't have to work to keep Oliver off the field. There is a playground where the Milton games are held (where Nadia's game was today). I think that has become my favorite field!