While we have many returning players on each team we also have a lot of new talent on the field so we needed new team names to go with our new colors, and so we are;
The U4 Grey Spiders!
The U6 Sapphire Seals!
The U10 Sapphire Bullets!
Here's a run-down of how everyone did this first week.
U4 is stronger than ever as The Spiders. Jill and Eileen ran a lot and Jill gets more involved in the game every week (and spends less time waving at her parents). Eileen, our youngest player was joined on the team by another youngster, Jeremy, whose brother plays on the U6 team. Jeremy had a great first game getting into the thick of the action right from the start. Lucas and Karolyn played hard too. Karolyn attacks the ball more aggressively each game. Noah had another strong showing with at least three goals. While he misses his partner from last session, Zach, Noah has two new players to work with; Brennen and Xavier. Xavier played with amazing energy for his first game, attacking the ball like a wild man. He had at least one goal, too! Our other new player Brennen has the same powerful right kick as his brother Alex who plays on the U6 team. With Brennen sending the ball up for them, Noah and Alex should be able to score often.
With the addition of Kevin, Luke and Carter U6 has become overwhelmingly strong. The Sapphire Seals were pretty much unstoppable once they got rolling with goals from Kevin, Owen, Kaleb and Alex. Justin was very strong in goal and in defense. We miss Ethan and Nate but Owen, Kaleb, Alex and Justin remembered how to stay spread out and work the ball in a triangle. We'll be working with Kevin, Carter and Luke on that too. Carter and Luke were also very solid in defense, stopping the blue team's attacks cold.
Kendall was great in goal and had a great game in the field, running with the ball and staying in the action. Maddie was good in goal and in the field but her most notable contribution is her attitude. Maddie is always so fired-up to play she can barely contain herself at kick-off. Our other new player, Mac, who played with us some sessions back had a good game too, staying more engaged in the action than ever before.
I knew the U10 game would be a tough one since most of the kids are new to each other and we haven't had much time to practice together but the Sapphire Bullets showed a lot of heart and toughness as well as some impressive skill and speed... lots of speed! In the second half Braden and Erika lead the attack with speed that seemed to really get the black team back on their heels. This lead to goals from Avery and Braden! If we can get Braden, Avery, Erika and the rest of our offense working on the same page we should be able to play with anybody. We also had great games from Helen, Erin and Kyle Duncan who played tirelessly and showed a lot of ball handling skill. Kyle Kruthoffer is our other speed merchant, zipping around on defense and darting up field for a little offense when needed. Nicholas had a tough time in goal in the first half facing a barrage of shots but his sense of the game is good and he's a hard worker in practice so I know he'll have better days. While we had great individual play from our defenders, including Jordan and Seth, we need to work on playing as a unit to contain the other side and protect our keeper from having to face so many one-on-ones. Seth was great in goal the second half, taking a charge on one play that, to me, looked like a yellow card offense. But Seth popped up smiling and put the ball back in play like it was all part of the plan. Jordan and Lauren played very well, crashing into the oncoming attack repeatedly. I know the score was lopsided but our defense stopped a lot of attacks. I was thrilled to see Jake have such a good game as he hasn't played in a while. And our defense is tough. Jake took a ball off the noggin in the second half and kept on going. Lauren took one in the gut and she kept going. Jordan was chasing and clearing fiercely and our two new defenders, Kathryn and David, had great games for kids new to the game.
So, while the score wasn't pretty I saw lots of potential. If everyone is interested in doing the work we'll keep practicing as long as the weather permits.
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