Apple Orchard Soccer Tournament

Whoa, it was a long few days around here... both the boys had night games on Thursday, which was a neat experience for Jack because now he's on a bigger field and the game was late enough to require the big lights -- very exciting!  He also had a night game Friday night, which was special because Uncle Kevin came!!  Then Jason had a game on Saturday morning, and Jack played two Saturday afternoon, then one this morning... yep, that's right, SEVEN soccer games between Thursday evening and 10 am Sunday.  Call me Soccer Mom Extraordinaire.

Friday was the beginning of the Apple Orchard Soccer Tournament, and this was Jack's first time participating.  We were told by the coach to not expect a lot of wins, because our team is on the younger side and other teams in this division have 11 and 12 year-olds, so we just asked the kids to do their best.  Jack turned out to be a rock star!  Wow.  He plays defense so he is deep in the backfield, but his attention and skill level have increased unbelievably with this team he joined in the spring.  In his Thursday night game he had two MAJOR saves that were sure goals and remains the designated penalty kicker.  I never cared much for soccer before, but his focus and mad defense skills were a lot of fun to watch! People I don't know were cheering him on by name!!  I was so proud of him, I had a goofy grin on my face all day at work Friday.  This kid gave his all in the two Saturday games too, with only an hour break in between, and the game this morning.  This is a real accomplishment, as the field is much larger and the kids now play two 25-minute halves, whereas last season they were still playing 12-minute quarters on a smaller field.

Jack on defense

Gave his Mom a quick wave!  :-)

As the designated penalty kicker, Jack got the chance to boot one -- much like he's doing in the picture below -- and IT WENT IN!!! SCORE!!!!  Through the first two regular games of the season and the four games they played in the tournament, this was the only goal scored by Jack's team -- and he's on defense!! What?!  Like I said, he's a rock star!  And you just gotta love the mismatched socks, he decided to do that for 'away' games... I don't get his logic, but I love the creativity!!

Running it down

Yet another penalty kick.  The kid has an iron foot.

Okay, so his team is winless so far this season but he knows he rocked it!  Look at that grin!!  He has a lot to be happy about!!