My Little Soccer Player!

Nico had his first soccer game yesterday! Considering it was the first game and he had had no practice. Last week was the first practice, but we were notified of the first practice after we had already made plans to go see Gigi for the weekend. Then this past Friday their practice was rained out. Luckily, Nico had at least been to his cousin Mason's soccer practice a few weeks back, so he had been introduced to the game a little bit.

I know that I am a bit biased since Nico is my son, but Ed and I both agree that he does have a natural sport-playing ability. He certainly did not get it from me! Nico wasn't too sure what to expect when we got to the field so he was not his typical outgoing self, but he warmed up a little after the game started. Nico was not in the first group of kids to play in the game, and since that was not expected, it put Nico off a bit. However, once it was his turn to play on the field, he blew everyone away, including us, by jumping right in the front, taking the ball down the field and scoring the first goal of the game! Woo Hoo, Go Nico!!!!

Team prayer time before the game starts.

 

 Here is the sequence of pictures from Nico making the first goal!

Nico is the one who made the shot to score the goal.  You just can't see him in this picture...he is behind his teammate.

 

And....Nico doing his victory dance!

 

While Nico's first few minutes of playing on the field were exciting, the rest of the game definently had its ups and downs. Nico has some lessons to learn during this soccer season, including not getting mad or sad when another child from the other team takes the ball away.  There were some instances in which Nico got his feelings hurt because he did not have the ball, and instead of getting back in there and going after the ball....he stopped running, put his head down and began pouting.  At one point he even sat down on the ground and started crying because a girl took his ball away!  I see some serious pep talks int he future. Overall, the game was cute and fun to watch. I think Nico and his teammates will get the gist of the game more after a few weeks of playing. 

Coach Andrew teaching Nico how to throw the ball back into the field.

 

Staying with the ball...Go Nico Go!

 

 Big Sis and Jeremy came down for Nico's first game, so he had his own cheering squad!  Big Sis even made her shirt to say "Nico's Biggest Fan!" 

 

 My little soccer player!

 



A little practice with Daddy after the game.

 



This video is really cute of Nico staying in the game, trying hard and having fun while he was out there!


This video captures Nico getting upset when he has the ball taken away which in turned caused sulking, pouting and crying on the field!  Hopefully with week, Nico will have a better understanding of the game itself.