Soccer Tournament

 Erik's fall team had their first tournament this weekend. They played 3 tough games, about 45 minutes away from our house. Two were yesterday, and I took him to those. We were gone for pretty much the whole day- at least the weather was nice! His last game was this morning, and Jason took him to that one, in the rain.

Even though they lost all three games, the losses weren't huge. 3-0, then 3-1, then 1-0. The team this morning actually beat the first team we played yesterday, 6-0, so we must have played really well this morning!

Erik played really well himself yesterday. He played both games all the way through with no break, so I guess Coach thought he was doing well enough that he didn't need to sub him out. He plays Center Defense Mid, so he basically gets to run all around defending, but also gets to go forward with the ball. It works out really well for the budding runner as he gets excellent running training in. He almost scored the first goal yesterday, which was cool to see since he has always played defense and hardly got near the opposing net. Speaking of a budding runner, he came in 4th in the League Meet among all the middle schools in our district, with a time of 12:30. He was discouraged that he didn't get a PR, so we had to remind him how hard the course was compared to the one they usually run and show him times and places of Austin and his freinds three years ago. He was right in line, or even a little faster than the 4th place runner, then. 

Going in for the finish!

Big bro support!

Best friend rivalry!

On the soccer field!

The best part about the soccer tournament was watching him in between games, before we went to lunch. After the first game yesterday, the other Plymouth Reign team near his age group had a game scheduled for the same field. Erik and his friend decided to stay and watch with the coaches, since they know them. Erik and Shabeg got excellent instruction from Coach Victor's commentary throughout the game and even enjoyed some playful bantering with him. Toward the end of the game, one of the players got elbowed in the head pretty hard. They only had one sub, so when he came out of the game, they had none. Not only was Erik ready to sub in, if they needed him, but he and Shabeg talked to the player and assessed his needs. They got his water bottle, and upon finding it empty, Erik got his extra, unused water bottle out and poured the water into the other boy's. Coach Victor poured it into the boy's mouth and then sent Erik and Shabeg over to get some ice for his head. The boy was fine, and I don't think he even suffered a concussion, but they did everything right and were so helpful. I felt very proud of our boys! (Erik and Shabeg have been playing soccer together since they were 4!)

A kind heart is always a win for me!