First Soccer Game

So, Saturday, we got to go watch Abbi play her first Upward Soccer game. I didn't know what to expect. They had only had 1 practice since the 2nd one got rained out and most of the kids on her team had never played. I figured it would be a bunch of kids kicking the back the wrong direction. I was pleasantly surprised. I had never been to a soccer game that I could recall, and it is a fun game to watch too.

They put her in first and she was a bit shy about it the first couple of minutes. Jamie and I were glancing at each other and thinking the same thing. We figured that she would be hesitant about playing then later she'd cry about not playing. She has done things like that before.

Well, after she got warmed up, she said she ignored the people watching, and she really got in there. I couldn't believe it! She got the "best defense" award and she deserved it! She is so fast. She would run up ahead of the other team if they had control of the ball and kick it the other way before they even knew what had happened. She even got close to scoring a goal, but someone kicked it out of bounds before she had a chance. Her team got 2 goals and the other team got 1 BTW.

I was so proud of her. I could not believe the natural talent that she seemed to have. She really had a great time and was proud of herself too. She has great potential in this sport and it will be exciting to watch her grow over time. The Upward program gives glory to God and strongly enforces Christ's Love. Her coach is very encouraging and bragged and bragged on each of them. She is anxious to get back out there next week!

She will play every Saturday until the end of September. Times vary a little bit, but most of her games are at 10 or 11am (I think she has one 9am game).

Here she is getting ready to kick the ball off:

I'm sure she was running to steal the ball:
She is at the end of the line. Yea, that is Jamie in the picture. He was a line referee. Little did he know that they would put him to work.
I'll have to say though. It sure is a hot sport. Even with all her soccer gear on, she didn't really complain. She got right in there and did what she needed to do. Funny how I heard all the complaining from the kids that weren't playing:-)