Raptors and Lions!

 I had a little Lion and a big Raptor living in my house the past few months.  These kiddos enjoyed playing soccer this fall on the U8 Raptors and the U6 Lions Tyrone Rec teams. 

 Vera has been wanting to play soccer for a while now since she has had to watch her older brother play in the past.  She was old enough to play on the under 6 team this year, and though she had a pretty good time, she has decided soccer isn't really her thing right now.  And really, it can be rather difficult for soccer to be any 4 year old's 'thing' because their tiny little bodies can hardly keep up with the ball as they try to remember things like "which way is our team supposed to go?" :)  Vera says "I think I'll try it again once I'm 5 or 5 1/2." 

 Above: Little Vera trails after her teammate and the ball.

My friend coached Vera's team, and I was the assistant (though my assisting wasn't always 100% since I was coming from William's games and dealing with 1st trimester exhaustion).  The kids had a good time on the Lion's team! 

 I coached William's U8 Raptors team.  I was a little nervous that moving up from coaching U6 would be intimidating or more difficult with more competitive kids and parents, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this age is GREAT for soccer!  These kids were ALL happy to be there and play and have fun.  They were able to process more of the game than the typical U6 "just get my foot to the ball" mentality, so it was pretty cool to see them begin to recognize their teammates and pass the ball towards the end of the season.  I had a lot of fun with this dynamic crew.  I'll be a bit too busy in the spring with having a baby to coach next season, and my kids are ready to try their hands (or feet) at some other activities for a while; but this was a fun season and I'm sure we'll be back to soccer before long.  In the mean time, I am thankful to have my Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings back :).