Evan\'s First Soccer Game

A couple of weeks ago, Evan started his first soccer practice and game. He hasn't really played any sports before except swimming.  He tried out Karate but wasn't ready at the time. So soccer is actually the first team sport he played and his coach, John, is his best buddy Matthew's father!

Evan was not as enthusiastic about the soccer practice as the rest of us though, which was not surprising to me. I think he just didn't know what to expect which made me feel maybe we should let the kids watch more sports channels.   Anyway, Daddy was very excited about the whole thing and he bought Evan a beautiful blue and white soccer ball and a cute pair of shin guards which matched the same colors.

Our whole family got up at 7:30AM that Saturday morning as the soccer starts at 8:30AM. We literally had to drag Evan out of the bed. The weather was perfect, not too sunny and not too humid. There were about four soccer teams on the same field as Evan's team, which had about eight kids that day. After introducing themselves to others, they started practicing. Coach John is big on teaching the techniques while the kids are having fun. So they played numerous games while they practiced certain moves. Evan was very happy to play soccer with Matthew, they tagged along with each other and giggled (they always act silly when they are together) and time just flied.

Then it was the time for Evan's first soccer game. His team was split into two teams and would each play against another team in the fields next to each other. Evan's team had Matthew, Ling – the daughter of their assistant coach and another boy. Ling is a beautiful Chinese girl whom you can tell inherited her daddy's soccer genes. She is a really good soccer player with some fancy moves :). Like Evan, the kids on the other team apparently didn't have much soccer experience, as they kicked the ball into their own goal twice within the first five minutes! It took a little time before everyone understood which direction their team was supposed to go.

Evan is very tall so he has the advantage but he is not very aggressive. He is not familiar with the game so he hasn't developed a strong sense of attack yet. He tends to take his time to get to the ball when it is around him and of course most of the time the ball would be stolen by someone before he would take a kick at it. When he did get the ball, he didn't know he should try his best to break though with the ball and charge towards the goal of the other team.  It is funny though whenever the other team charged towards their goal, Evan always ran as fast as he could (he nicknamed himself "flash" from the IncrediblesJ) and stood right in front of his goal to block the shots from the other team as if he were the goalie. He did in fact block many shots and saved his team many timesJ.

Evan doesn't like to have physical contact with strangers and as we know falling, got kicked by other players is part of the soccer game. After the first time he got tripped over by a kid from the other team and fell down onto the ground, he immediately pulled down his face and walked unhappily to me (a water break happened immediately after he fell) and said: "See, this is exactly why I don't like to play soccer!" but once Coach John threw the ball back into the field to start the game again, he immediately followed Matthew into the field and put a big smile on his face again.  

Apparently Evan's team is stronger than the other team, Matthew and Ling each made one or two goals. After each goal, everyone on his team became very excited and would jump into the air and yell "Yeah!" Evan was just has happy as if he were the one who made the goal. Five minutes before the game was over, the score was 6:2, then came the big break for Evan.

Evan was in the middle of a scrum doing his best to "defend", which meant he stood perfectly still in front of his opponent and waited for them to kick the ball, which ended up being blocked by his legs.  Suddenly, among the mass of kids he kicked the ball forward and moved ahead a couple yards.  He followed the ball and kicked again. In no time, he was in the clear, across midfield with nothing but grass between him and the goal.   

Olivia and I got very excited as we screamed at him: "Go Evan! Go!"

A bunch of kids were in pursuit but he kept his lead of the pack and raced to the goal.  When he got within a few feet he made the shot. Unfortunately the ball sailed wide right.

With that, the game was over.  The play apparently boosted his self esteem and gave him a sense of achievement. Although you could see the regret on his face, he was happy at the same time. He ran back towards me and said: "Mom, did you see that? I almost made a goal!"

"Of course! You did a great job!" I was truly excited for him and hoped that the other parents watched on the sideline didn't mind my behavior as I felt like I was screaming all the way until he attempted that shot J.

"But I missed it." Evan said with regret.

"That's okay. I think you did great! You charged that ball through half of the field? That's awesome!"

Daddy later told me that in a way he felt "better" that Evan didn't make his goal as he wants to capture his first goal on the video.