End of the soccer season

Yesterday was the final day of the fall soccer season. I was really looking forward to watching the games, since we missed the last two Saturdays due to our Branson trip.

NB and IM's team won their game, making them undefeated for the season. IM had an especially good game, with lots of contact with the ball and good mental focus. She's come a long way from kindergarten, when my parents got footage of her laying on the ground with her feet in the air in the middle of the game. Or from the beginning of this year, when she told me, "The job of defense is to tell jokes and wait for the ball to come to you."

The team had a post-game party in the pavillion at the park. One of the coaches handed out medals for each of the kids. LW really wanted a medal, but of course there weren't enough for siblings. Another younger sibling was busy explaining it to LW--"The medals are only for the kids on the team"--when NB walked up and put his medal around LW's neck, "For being the best baby brother in the world." The other little boy frowned, and left in search of his brother.

It was a great team in so many ways. Great coaches, great kids. Everyone was from the same school, so they knew each other well and really enjoyed being together. It feels like the end of an era. In third grade, the teams are split by sex and they try to mix up the towns more.

EM was scheduled to play in the afternoon. The last week of the season is a special jamboree, and he had two half-hour games. It was drizzling during the twins' game, but by 11:00 it was pouring. We were assured that the games were still on, and so at 12:45 we set out for the field, which is about a half-hour drive from us in rainy weather. Just as we pulled up, the organizers made the decision to cancel all remaining games. EM was pretty disappointed. Sixth grade is the last grade for the recreational soccer program. Except for second grade (the year we moved), he has played on a soccer team every year since he was four. It felt very anticlimatic to not have the games.