John's fall sports

Fall youth sports season is here and John is a busy guy. Actually, both of the kids are busy with activities this fall, but tonight's photos are all of John. 

One of John's sports is flag football. This is an eight-week program organized through the local YMCA, where first grade boys play on organized teams with boys from the same elementary school. John's team has had two games so far, with one win and the other a loss (by only one point). This is the first year most of the other boys on his team have played flag football, so John has a little more experience relative to the others.

John absolutely LOVES flag football. I would say it is his favorite sport of all that he has played. Admittedly, John is a pretty quick runner and he can dash down the sidelines and evade tackles like a madman (below John is #3).

John has scored four touchdowns this year so far, including all three of the touchdowns from the last game.

John's other sport is soccer. This year John joined a club soccer team that will play through the end of spring. The team is organized by coaches and affiliates of the local high school, which has an impressive list of conference and state titles when it comes to most sports. There are two practices each week (one team, one specific skills) plus one game. This is pretty intense stuff for a first grader, but John loves it.

Coach put John in as goalie for the first game. John is wearing the grey goalie jersey in the photos and his teammates are in blue. John didn't really know what he was doing in the goalie position for that first game since he hadn't had any formal training, but Scott coached him well from the sidelines and he made it through. The other team scored one goal on John (coach commented that John blocked it well but that it was a good kick that would have made it in anyway), but he had an impressive save that the coach and Scott were very proud of.

Since that game two weeks ago John has had lots of one-on-one training from the goalie coach so I am expecting him to feel more confident with his position for the next game. We are hopeful that two players on John's team train as goalies so that John can play half the game as goalie and the other half on the field.

Overall our intention with exposing the children to sports is for them to enjoy the experience of playing on teams with friends, especially at this level. But our area is pretty intense when it comes to youth sports (it is Texas, after all), so the focus on good training and organization is high. John seems to thrive under this level of competition and we are glad he enjoys playing. It doesn't hurt that he is a pretty good athlete either. Expect many more sports photos to come this fall and through the rest of the year.