Kayla's 1st Soccer Game!

Oh my!  Our baby girl is old enough to play soccer now!  Garrett and I have been waiting anxiously for this day.  We are so excited for Kayla {and eventually Gavin} to enter the world of team sports.  Garrett grew up playing baseball and wrestled in high school.  I on the other hand played no team sports growing up.  Not because I didn't like playing sports, I really was quite the tomboy and enjoyed playing outside all day with the neighborhood kids rather than inside with dolls and dress up.  I played tennis for a while and spent a year in kung fu classes.  But when it came to team sports outside of P.E. I just wasn't interested.  I really can't say why.   Anyways...... back to the present; Kayla has always been a fairly physical little girl and despite her tendency to be a bit dramatic at the slightest boo-boo we were pretty sure she would really enjoy soccer.  When I told her I signed her up to play with the local YMCA she was extremely excited and began jumping up and down.  Then she stopped suddenly and with a concerned look said to me 'but mommy I don't know how to play soccer'.  I assured her she would have practices and the coach would teach her how to play the game, and we would also practice at home.  Her nerves were instantly calmed and she hasn't looked back.

For her age group we meet once a week on Saturdays.  Practice is for about 15 minutes before the game that same day.  On our first day, man did I feel like a fish out of water!  I had no idea what to expect and Kayla and I were so unprepared.  She was like 1 out of 4 kids not wearing shin guards and I was definitely the only parent not sitting in a foldable lawn chair!  So you can bet the next day we hustled down to Walmart, got Kayla properly outfitted and I'm now the proud owner of a bright green chair in a bag complete with cup holders ;).

So we've had one practice Saturday, then a scrimmage, and finally this past weekend was her first official game.  She's #8.

*There are 3 more kiddos on her team not pictured in this line-up*

First, a little practice session

And then it's game on!

I was so proud of Kayla!  She really got right in there and was not afraid to go after the ball!

Of course there were some falls.  They are 4yr olds after all :).  Most of the time Kayla got right back up and played on.

But at times there were some tears as well.  I don't blame her, look at those kids she's playing against!  They were pretty rough and tumble!

Time for a little pep talk!

'Coach!  I think we're supposed to be kicking the ball THAT way!'

And it's game time again!

Did I mention some of her opponents were pretty tough.  One boy in particular was very aggressive, can you guess who?

But Kayla handled it all like a champ and can't wait until next Saturday!