Team Rowdies

Today Pearson had his very first soccer game.  He has been asking about this day probably since the day he turned 3.  We told him he couldn't play any sports until he was 4 years old.  We wanted him to really want to play sports before we actually put him on a team.  The last thing we wanted to do was drag him to the soccer field every Saturday crying because he didm't want to play.  He didn't forget that we had said he could play soccer when he was 4, because on his 4th birthday he told us he was so excited he could finally play soccer.  I don't think he realized he still had to wait until soccer season started.  So, he has been patiently waiting for this day for quite some time!!

Our game was at 10am this morning which wasn't bad at all.  The games are all at 9am or 10am which is really nice that we don't ever have to play at 8am.  That wouldn't been tough to get us all dressed and ready and out the door that early.  

 One thing I love about Pearson is that he gives everything his all.  This was just the warm up, but he was playing hard and hustling like it was the real deal!

 We decided to put Pearson in the Upward soccer program at a church near by our house.  I just love that its about so much more than a soccer game. Pearson was really into the pre-game prayer. 

Pearson team has 9 players (5 girls and 4 boys) and only 5 play at a time.  They rotate the kids in and out every few minutes.  He was in the second group to play, so he warmed the bench for the first few minutes.  He looks mad here, but he was just really into watching the game.   

When it was finally his turn to play, he played all out.  

We were some pretty proud parents cheering on the sideline!

I even heard Nash say "Go Bubba!" a few times!!

One time during the game Pearson shot a corner kick.  Nobody went and got the ball, so he stepped in and kicked it again.  Apparently that's against the rules…..atleast, he was hustling and going after the ball!!

Before it was half-time, I could already tell he was exhausted.  He came and sat in Matt's lap for a little bit.

They don't technically keep score in Upward soccer, but Matt and I are both so competitive, that we knew it was 4-0 at half-time.  Our coach gave the kids a big pep talk about trying to stop the other team from scoring so much.  The kids weren't talking, but nobody was really paying attention.  They were all so tired.  

During the second half our team got it together and we scored 2 goals!  Pearson was one of the ones that scored.  He was so proud of himself!!  And obviously we were pretty proud too!!

The other team also scored 2 more goals making the final "score" 6-2.  Even though they didn't technically win, we are so proud of Team Rowdies efforts.  They played a great game.  

After the game, the coach passed out star stickers to all of the players.  Pearson got the Offensive Star sticker since he scored a goal!!

Way to go Pearson! We look forward to watching many more soccer games in our future.  You are a soccer star!!!