He's No Pele

Alden just finished his first season of soccer with The Fireballs. It's the first time he's played sports and it could not have gone any better. We signed up with all his friends - Kaleb Rasmussen, Brigham Stokes, Mary Joe Spencer, Scotty Ponder (Skousen). Coach Jon Thomas is amazing and thanks to him, Alden actually learned a lot of skills and improved a ton. He was the youngest on his 4&5 year old team, so he has a lot of room to grow. Some of the older boys had played before, but the league was great (NYS) and we had a great experience. The boys all played a lot and learned all the positions. There wasn't any pressure to perform and the many times that Alden and other players ended up kicking the wrong way were really no big deal. Our family really enjoyed attended weekly practices and games to support Alden.





Above is his team. (We totally skipped team pictures this season but will try to make it next season.) L to R: Coach Jon Thomas & his daughter, Ella, Kaleb Rasmussen, Garrett, Brigham Stokes, Alden, Reed Connolly, Isaac, Weston, Mary Joe Spencer.


The last game was very close and exciting. In the end The Fireballs were up by one goal, and Alden was assigned to be goalie. I was down there helping him and I was a wreck, jumping up and down and yelling instructions. I prayed for the ball to be no where near our goal, but it was. And Alden was awesome! He saved two goals (one kicked by Mary Joe) to retain the lead and The Fireballs won the game! After the game, all the players and their families went to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch, arcade games, and the trophies. It was really fun for everyone and Alden was so proud of his trophy. He carried it everywhere and practically slept with it for a few nights.

We signed Alden up for one more round of soccer since Coach Thomas and many of the kids were planning to play again. Unfortunately his games will overlap with the sewing class I have every Saturday this semester. But I will catch practices and Aaron can handle the games, hopefully with a little help from friends and family.