All-Star Soccer Tournament

I was so excited when Jake made the all-star team for soccer. He has always really enjoyed the sport and he truly did have a great regular season. There is no doubt in my mind that Jake deserved to make the team. However, if I am being totally honest and it pains me a great deal to say this, but Jake did not play like an all-star in this past weekend's tournament.

It's very hard to watch your child and know how they are capable of playing and then watch them not play to that potential. It didn't seem like Jake was giving it 100%. Talking to him about it later, the problem seemed to be that he was intimidated by the fact that now everyone on the field is playing really good and much more aggressive and instead of it motivating him to do the same, he kind of just backed off. And to be fair, he wasn't the only one not playing their best. I think for Jake especially, the coaching makes a huge difference and it kind of seemed like the players never really had a chance to come together as a team, at least not on the field.

So as you might guess, the team didn't do so well in the tournament. They lost all 3 games but put up a pretty good fight in their second game, which they only lost 2-1. Also, it should come as no surprise that the second game was the nicest weather of the three. We are in California but it is still January and both Saturday and Sunday's morning games were bitterly cold - temperatures in the 20's, grass covered in ice and on Sunday we had the addition of the wind. As a spectator, it was not the best experience let me assure you.

On the bright side, it was still a good experience for Jake and the rest of the team. I am very glad that Jake had a chance to play beyond the regular season and I am very proud of the time and dedication he put into the extra practices all throughout the month of December, especially during winter break.

A group shot of the team:



 Jake coming in for a slide tackle:



This photo really illustrates how much smaller Jake is than some of the kids his age:



With soccer now over, Jake is going to be concentrating on BMX and is still deciding whether he wants to play baseball this spring. He is so athletic that I look forward to seeing which sports he eventually decides to focus on. I have little doubt that soccer will continue to be in the mix. The next big activity for the family is coming up in February as Jadyn has been preparing to perform a cheer routine at the winter recital for her dance studio.

Never a dull moment!