Wrapping up Soccer Season

This soccer season was a little crazy.  We had all five boys playing plus Jarom coaching.  It was my heaviest load in school, as well.  There were weeks we had games almost every night.  If it wasn't a game, it was practice.  It was fun and exhausting.  Usually, Jarom and I have to trade off who's going to which game, but it being Liam's final season and Hyrum's last season of middle school, there were few games I wanted to miss.  

We will start with Bret and Jarom's season.  Jarom had another good season and several dedicated parents.  Jarom has really come to enjoy coaching and finds he's not too bad at it.  We do give him a hard time that he yells, quite loudly, from the sidelines, but the kids all still love him.  He still gives good positive reinforcement and teaches them real soccer skills.  Bret plateaued slightly this season but still played great.  It's hard for him to kick with his right foot!  Being small, if he doesn't hit a growth spurt soon, he won't be as fast as he is now.

Marshall's Season.  I didn't get to go to many of Bret's games because I had to take Marshall to his games, but I sure enjoyed watching him play.  It stuck out one more year as a U10 player.  Marshall was by far the best player.  He is a good all-around player.  He is fast.  He can play most positions.  He's not a ball hog (unless they are losing really bad, then he doesn't want to pass).  He will run his heart out!  I lost count of the goals he scored.  For the tournament, they went out just shy of the championship game.  He hated being on a team that the players weren't that great, but he still loved playing and carried them to the gold bracket.  At times, he would get a little conceited.  He is a true athlete so I'm excited to see what he can do next season in U12.  

This was Hyrum's last year in middle school and they had an awesome team!  These boys had the best chemistry and the most unselfish team.  It was fun to watch them play.  Hyrum's season we thought would be the year to win the championship... it was a tough loss.  Poor Coach Erwin, this is his fifth championship game, and a loss every time.  Hyrum was put on defense this year and he has never played defense.  We were not sure how this was going to go.  It started out a little shaky, but he enjoyed it, most of the time, and became quite a valuable player to the team.  Hyrum is fast and his kicks have gotten strong.  He saved the team quite a few times.  He was the corner kick guy, this season.  He took them all but maybe one.  He did a great job.  He even managed to score a goal this season.  His only goal for his middle school career! 

We are really proud of Hyrum for taking on a new position and working hard to be the best he could be.  He could have easily complained and gave excuses as to why he is not good at that position and shouldn't play there.  He didn't.  He focused on what he could offer the team.    

Tipton got a bit of the shaft this season.  He made it as a "swing" player, but that really meant nothing.  I think once he got playing time for a varsity game.  As a JV player, he played well but he was frustrated, their team was not good.  Not to mention, JV had very few games.  He lost motivation throughout the season.  We just hope he sticks with it and plays next year.  He is a very talented player.

So that's a wrap.  Until next soccer season!