Soccer!

 Since soccer has always been such a big part of Matt's life, we knew we at least wanted to give Ian the opportunity to play, too. As soon as we mentioned being on a soccer team, Ian was very excited -- and even more so when he found out that Daddy would be coach! Four friends from Ian's class are on the (10-player) team, too. We like this soccer league because it's very low-key ... they have a 45-minute practice immediately before their 24-minute game on Saturday morning. It's nice to have only one commitment each week! The soccer season started on April 12 and will last for about 8 weeks.

It was so cute watching Matt lead the boys (and one girl) in practice. He did a great job! He was very patient and positive and kept practice moving. They started with some stretching exercises ...

... and huddled up between many of the activities for some "instruction time."

 After a few drills, it was already time to start the game! Matt and the other team's coach were allowed to be on the field during the game ... which ended up being quite useful for teaching and redirecting. :) The referees did a great job of being teachers, too. Matt was thankful that our friend Kyle stepped up to be assistant coach. It was very helpful to have a second person while running drills and, during the game, to keep the players who weren't playing at the moment together on the sidelines.

 Ian seemed to enjoy the game, though he was a little tentative and preferred to let other kids have the ball. He was happy to kick the ball in, though!

 All 12 players (6 from each team) that were on the field were generally clumped all together, right by where the ball was. :)

 The four quarters of the game seemed to go by so quickly! Matt gathered the team in for a pep talk after the game. The team lost 1-3, but no one seemed to really care. In fact, I'm pretty sure that most of the kids didn't even knew what the score was.

 Ryan helped to find the snacks to hand out to the players! We're already looking forward to game #2!