Kicking Off The Season
By Wyatt Earp | September 5, 2009
Kyle during warm-ups.
Kyle’s played his first soccer game of the new season last night, during the start of the annual Ross-Haney Soccer Tournament. If nothing else, he got to work out the off-season rust early, as the opponent (Parkwood Youth Organization) was very talented and very fast. Here is the boy sliding over into position:
Kyle, centering himself.
Note the new goalie jersey. He loves it. Immediately after I took this picture, the Parkwood kid on the left (in white) kicked the ball. Kyle made a leg save. The rebound came back to the same kid, who kicked again. Kyle made another save, this time with his hands. A rebound went to the kid a third time, and although he had Kyle beat, he shot high. It went off the crossbar and out of bounds. It was one of the best string of saves I have ever seen him make.
Of course, he was pretty good at his punts, too. This one, although short, was in perfect position for his teammate Zaire, who picks up the ball in mid-stride and runs down the field. Alas, he didn’t score:
And that was our problem. We couldn’t get any offense going, and ended up with zero goals. Sadly, the kids didn’t play great defense, either, as the final score was 4-0. Despite the score, I still think that Kyle played the best game of his career. (And I’m not one of “those” parents. When Kyle plays poorly, I let him know.) Last night, he made save after save, including a fantastic catch on a kid who shot at point-blank range. That earned him fist bumps from his three defensemen. When I asked him about it, he said, “Dad, I pulled an Arthur (from The Tick): ‘Not in the face! Not in the face!’” I love that boy.
After the game, the team had a barbecue/swim party over a teammate’s house. The missus took Kyle and Erik, while I stayed home with the babies. No one wants to see me in a bathing suit.
The Blue Kickers have two tourney games today, but since am working, I will miss them both. Hopefully, they’ll play well, have fun, and win.
Topics: The Boys | 4 Comments »
September 5th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Awesome coverage of an equally awesome young man.
September 5th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
RT – Thanks. Sadly, they got creamed again today. Kyle had some terrific saves again, but the team couldn’t muster any offense. Two more games tomorrow (Sunday).
September 6th, 2009 at 12:48 am
That is a lot of game time in a short period of time. The kids are probably tired.
September 6th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
RT – They were. They won the first game today (Sunday), 4-2, then lost the last one, 3-0. They had fun, though, and that’s the important thing.