Live - Breathe - Sleep - Soccer

I feel that it is very ironic that my previously least favorite sport is now an all consuming part of our family life. I'm sure the soccer gods are having a good laugh at me. To be fair, where I grew up soccer was pretty much non-existent and to be honest it was kind of the sport we made fun of. They didn't have it as a sport option in the schools and there were few if any local youth leagues. Anyways fast forward all these years later after I met my husband and I feel a bit tricked that it has become such a huge part of my life. In all fairness, he was a football coach - not a soccer coach when we first started dating, but I did know he was definitely passionate about sports - playing, watching, and coaching.

I first started to rethink my previous opinions about soccer when Riley and I were dating and I would go watch him play "Mexican league" soccer. I was blown away at how tough and fast those guys were. I couldn't believe they could run so hard and fast for that amount of time. I got tired just watching them. Most of the games were pretty exciting, Riley was (and is) a very physical defensive player and a master at slide tackles so he was a fun person to watch and cheer on. I being a soccer newbie, had no idea really how the game was played except for the obvious tactic of kicking the ball through the opponents goal. It seemed so backwards to me, I mean really, what kind of strategy is it to pass the ball backwards to in essence move it forward. Riley would throw soccer terms and lingo around in attempts to educate me on the game and my eyes would just instantly start glassing over with the overload of information.

Fast forward more years and now I'm literally entrenched in soccer fever. With Riley coaching three or four teams and Kendle now playing I have a bit more incentive to be knowledgeable about it and have even (dare I say it) started to really enjoy watching soccer. It is still not my most favorite sport, but it continues to grow on me. Our kids all have soccer gear and jerseys and our garage looks like a sporting goods store.

Kendle had her first game this last Saturday and did a great job. She got to play goalie twice and had some great saves and a great kick that made it all the way to the other teams goal which would have been awesome if one her players would have been there to kick it in. She was really excited they get to play four on four this year because she has been dying to get to play goalie. When she was playing out in the field she was able to score two goals. She is listening to my coaching from the sidelines a lot better this year. Ha! At least no more dirty looks when I yell "run faster" and "hustle" every five seconds. I love it when she is excited after her games about how she played and tired because she knows she worked hard. I think they have a pretty good team this year and the girls had a lot of fun together.

Riley's team played West Valley on Saturday and beat them 2-0. This was an exciting game for them because WV is a very good team, I believe they were the league champs last year. It was great for them to get that win and have it behind them. Southridge went up a spot in the state rankings from 7th to 6th, so hopefully they can hang onto their winning streak and keep playing hard.

Riley mentioned to me the other night that by Thanksgiving we are going to need a vacation. It probably won't happen, but I think he's right.