The Nielsens: Soccer Season is Officially OVER!

The soccer season is officially over for us....we survived!! It was a crazy, hectic schedule these last two months, but we did awesome at juggling it. It's always a little rough when the weather starts to get colder and the days get shorter. Those 9 am games are a killer, trying to rush about making sure everyone is ready to go for the day. Or even those late afternoon games when all you want to do is veg out on the couch. It was especially hard during those times when Peter was out of town for camping or work and I had to do it all solo, trying to be at two places at once. BUT it was all worth it. And our boys were amazing, each growing in their own way with the sport.

Kristjan: He definitely improved from last year. His first ever game last year found him frozen in fear with tears running down his face as his then-coach aggressively yelled at him to move around. This year, Kristjan was more confident in himself. And he had a great coach. The coach never once negatively yelled at any of the kids during practice or the games. He was so patient, which partly helped Kristjan to actively participate. Kristjan still has a few areas to work on, such as running (not prancing...sorry but he does! lol) and to be a little more aggressive with the ball (it's all the kids at this age. they're too polite with the opposing player with waiting to see who will kick the ball first). But he had fun, which is what matters. I look forward to signing him back up again next Fall!

Clifford: He LOVES this sport. And he's good at it. He runs hard and kicks hard. Clifford was definitely one of the better players on the team. He scored his first-ever goal this season, which found him smiling ear-to-ear! This was his first time playing on a team, and we immediately noticed some issues that needed to be corrected immediately. Clifford wanted to go after the ball all the time, even if it meant stealing it from his own teammate. This also meant that he would stray from the position his coach put him in. After numerous times of talking to him about these two issues, Clifford slowly worked on these areas. By the end of the season, we could see an improvement. As for the Coach,
teammates, and their parents, we lucked out with having a great team! The Coach was volunteered by his wife at the last minute to take on the position, but he ended up doing a great job. He also never once yelled at the boys, only offering encouragement to the boys and driving home the point of good sportsmanship. The boys all worked well together, even the ones that you could tell weren't that good at the sport. And as for the parents, they were all great. This was especially crucial for me being Team Mom. It helped make the snack schedule, trophy ordering and planning of the team party go smoothly. We'll sign Clifford up again next Fall, in hopes of getting his coach and majority of his teammates again.

Kristjan at his last soccer game of the season.

See the slight red spot under his eye? He ended up getting smacked in the face with the ball, which actually stopped a goal from the opposing team.