the first game ....

Well, we had a blast at Katie's first soccer game. She was very excited about playing today, which was fun. We got out there an hour early to kick the ball around. She is not the speediest or the strongest, but she sticks her nose in the pile and usually is in good position.

They do not have a goaltender yet, but play four on four and one kid is usually kept to the back to be a defender. Katie, I thought, was especially good at that. Some kids came running out to midfield anytime the ball came towards the goal, and some kids stayed rooted to the spot five feet from the goal where they were told to stand, and some kids completely abandoned the goal as if the point were not to stay between the goal and the ball but to keep the ball from going out the baseline. But Katie kept herself in position.

In the middle of the third quarter, she took the hardest kicked ball of the day right off the side of the head, which flattened her. She bounced right back up, but the official blew the whistle and everyone gasped which gave her time to remember that it had hurt some. She sat out for a minute or two, and then was back in there. I was worried that she would be afraid of contact and shy away from the ball and the other kids, but she did great.

And I was really pleased with the parents. We were all very encouraging, and by the end of the game, all the parents pretty much knew all the names of the kids and cheered for everyone without being ugly. It was very cool.

Seven more games to go.....