Soccer

Ella started soccer this week. A few months ago she told me she really wanted to play. I'm not sure if she even knew what it was, or why she was interested, but she kept asking so I signed her up. She had her first practice last Wednesday, which was so hilarious. There were nine little four year-old girls running all over the place, bumping into each other, kicking their balls, and when that wasn't working so well, they would just pick them up to get them where they wanted. Pure chaos!

Down the field, at practice

A goal!

Then yesterday was her first game. Her team is called the "Unicorns" - very appropriate sounding team name for 4-year old girls. Coincidentally, the team they played were also the "Unicorns." So for the game they play four girls from each team, obviously not playing positions, and no goalie. Pretty much the whole game there were eight girls crowded around the ball trying to get it going the right direction. Ella was cracking us up! Seeing how she doesn't have older siblings and really hasn't been that exposed to soccer, I'm not sure she completely understood her role on the field. She was just trotting around the field with a big goofy smile on her face. She got some good kicks in and almost scored a goal but mostly kind of stood back a little and waited for the ball to roll her way.

Warming up before the game. Nice kick, Ella!

Game on! (Although if I'm not mistaken, I think
you're supposed to kick the ball, not carry it!)

Ready to start the game! What fierce looking Unicorns!

This is pretty much how every picture from the
game looked - the ball, surrounded by eight little girls

After the game we went to lunch and Jeramy and I were telling her how great she did and were telling her that when you play soccer you're supposed to run really hard after the ball and try and steal the ball away from the other team. Her response "Am I allowed to do that?" Clearly, we had a bit of a communication breakdown somewhere. :)

Regardless if soccer will be her thing, or not, she said she had a great time (besides "getting too hot") and is excited to be playing soccer. She has a great coach and I think it's really good for her to play on a team. Let's hope we all feel the same way at the end of the season!