Soccer Shots

Wednesday, September 15, was Joshua's first day of Soccer Shots at Calvary Preschool.

He had begged and begged to play soccer this year, so Shawn said yes. I was a little nervous about it, I'll admit. But, I'm glad that we signed him up to play! I told him that I wouldn't be there to pick him up at the normal time and his teacher would walk him to Soccer Shots. He doesn't enjoy changes in his routine, so we went over this several times until he was okay with it.

That morning Caleb & I went shopping for Joshua's birthday party, and afterward, I decided it might be fun to do a special lunch to reward Caleb for being so good and Joshua for his first big day of soccer. I got them chicken nuggets and chocolate milkshakes for lunch and then we headed over to pick the Bean up. I wasn't exactly sure where to get him, so we arrived a few minutes early, and we got to watch him play. We sat on the bank/hill next to the fields, so we were decently far away (thus why the pictures are the quality that they are... but you get the idea!).

I will say that I'm impressed with the soccer shots program and the coaches. She already seemed to know the kids by name and it was only the first day! They split the kids into two different areas, and Joshua's had seven kids since one little girl was missing that day (so I assume the other area had the same number). Then, they did different drills where she would say "put your head on your ball" or "put your belly on your ball." The word for that day was "dribble." Joshua's favorite game that they played that day was when the "coach" would act like she was a "mad dog" and try to kick their ball off the "island" that they were to play in. If she got the ball out, they had to do five touches with their feet before going back in. The Bean thought this game was hysterical. He told everyone that the mad dog tried to get his ball.

Toward the end, she divided this half of the group into two teams. Joshua raised his hand to be on the yellow team. Then they had a little scrimmage. One little boy who was in a yellow jersey was AMAZING at soccer and took the ball right down to the other net and scored. But, it wasn't Joshua! He kept wanting to use his hands when he couldn't kick the ball the correct way.

The kids were SO cute! They all had a blast, I think. I love that he's learning something new at this age. While we play soccer at home, they are definitely showing more technique than we are. Plus, he has the benefit of learning with other children his age. I didn't realize it until I saw his grandma come pick him up, but his little friend Austin from the Lord's House of Prayer was also on his soccer team. He's below in the curls. This picture was taken when she said "okay, go get your back packs and find your moms." Joshua was happy to see us, and Caleb ran to give him a big hug. Great job at Soccer Shots, my little one!