Last week Grace had her first soccer game. She’s finally old enough for team sports and after much debate (softball, baseball, swimming…) Alex and I finally settled on soccer. So far she has only had two practices and one game, but she’s already made so many little girlfriends and is really excited about getting on the field again. She’s playing with six-year-old girls from our local YMCA and she’s the smallest girl on her team, but we wanted to make sure that she was pushed a little bit and was playing with girls that are a little above her skill level.
This past week, the coach couldn’t make it to the game so Alex stepped in to assist the girls. It was so cute seeing them all warm-up and cheer each other on. I was sitting on the opposite side of the field and watched as Alex pep-talked Grace before she was put in the game. At one point, Grace looked at Alex and said “Dad, I don’t know what I’m doing” and it was both so cute and funny at the same time. There was another moment when she was playing defense and finally caught up to the ball. We all screamed “Stop the ball!” and she threw her entire little body on top of the ball. It was a good teaching moment and one we’ll remember for a long time to come.
This is not necessarily a picture of Grace, but there are some girls on the team that are in.cre.di.ble! They have the advantage that they play for the public school team, and Grace gets to play with really good girls so I know she’ll pick up the sport really quick.
My parents were also visiting this week and it was super special seeing them cheer for Grace for the first time. I loved having them there and I know she did too.
Grace’s team won 6-0. We tried to contain our excitement and remember that the girls are 6 and take losing hard but at the same time, we wanted to make sure Grace and her teammates felt amazing about their first win.
This little lady was the cutest. It’s still pretty cold here in Nebraska, so we made sure to bring a big thermos full of hot chocolate. She had most of it and spent the whole time screaming “Go Grace Go!” I loved every moment of it.
I’ve never seen a little girl with the biggest smile while she’s running. Her face and her missing tooth all lit up every time it was her chance to chase after the ball. It was priceless!
