Game Three. Snowflakes and Elbows were flying.

With only eight players on hand everybody got a real workout. Thanks to the snow the kids all showed up in a very up-beat mood and were anxious to play. We had at least two goals from Mason and another that Mason and Annie basically shared. We really had a lot of great chances where one or more of our players was in position in front of the goal and just missed their shot. Also we again had some good defensive play although we really missed Nate.
Thanks to the Hammons for the snacks.

Game Two

We only had eleven players for this game and that made it easier to get everybody their minutes. I did however get one complaint after the game that the playing time wasn't getting shared evenly. If that is happening I apologize. I want to assure all the parents that I and everyone else who volunteers with NKYA want every kid who participates to have a positive experience. I love the game myself and I take the opportunities I get to share it with young players very seriously. I want them all to have fun and really get hooked on soccer and want to work at learning the game. So if anybody feels that their kid isn't getting enough out of our practices and games talk to me. I want to hear it.

As for the game...I think we had four goals, a couple from Owen and at least one more from Nate I think. I want to especially mention Nate. He is a fireball on the field and at two points in the game when the other team was right on top of our goal Nate stubbornly refused to let them put it in. It was awesome.
Kendall also had a great game and came very close to scoring a goal. She has come so far since the summer. It's great to see.

Thanks to the Romitos for this week's snack. The Hammons are on deck for next week. See you then.

The Big Apple

With our new red shirts the name "Apples" occurred to some of the kids so we are the Fierce Red Apples. (They always want to include the color in the name!). Our first game and practice went very well even though, to state the obvious, we have a large roster. Two players were added on game day to give us a total of twelve kids. I'm ok with this. I hate to turn away kids who want to play. I'll manage the playing time to get everyone plenty of minutes and I expect that we'll have more than a few weeks where less than the full roster shows up.

A few of the kids will be due to move up to U7 soon and that can be a big jump. I'm going to try having those older 4s play together at least one quarter each game as I think that beyond ball skills or size the thing that will serve them best as they move up is a well developed sense of how to play as part of a team. As I said in an earlier post I think that for the younger kids the goal is to start them on developing some basic ball skills and get them to grasp the basic concepts of the game, i.e., what your supposed to do with the ball when you get it. But for the older kids the big conceptual leap is in learning to cooperate and take in more of the field. I can say from experience with my daughter's U7 and U9 teams that the first time the kids get that feeling of running together with a purpose, like a pack of wolves, that's the moment they really get hooked on the game.

In our first game our one successful shot on goal was from Chase. The shot was from about 10 yards out! A very strong kick. Annie gets credit for an assist on that one. Everyone else played well. Lots of good effort.

Next weeks game is at the same time and the Romitos will be providing the snack.

Winter II starts January 11th

The new session starts this week and we have a full roster of 10. I've got four returning and six new kids. Here's the line-up:

Mason Hammons
Camden Schwartz
Nathan Griffith
Max Lause
Kaleb Lighthall
Madelyn Schroth
Kendall Romito
Collin Flaherty
Chase Beck
Owen Michels

See everybody Sunday!