Team Longhorns verses the Hot Tamales

I'm now officially a "soccer mom". This picture of Hayley pretty much sums up why. Look at that sweet, smiling face. Hayley started playing soccer for the first time this year. She's six years old and is on a team for first and second grade girls. Since she is young and not especially interested in sports I wasn't sure whether or not she would enjoy playing. But things came together making this the right time to try. Hayley's good friend Maggie was to be on the team. Maria, Maggie's mother and a good friend of mine, is one of the coaches. So we signed her up.

Paul Ray, our four-year-old boy, was a little upset because he isn't quite old enough to play on a team. There is a younger team but he missed the age cut-off by three months. I take him to the games and dress him in his soccer shoes, socks, shorts and shin guards, just like his sister. He thinks he's a part of the team. He's happy. I bring snacks and lots of water to the games. It's amazing how hungry soccer makes everybody. I take my digital camera to the games. Taking pictures keeps me from falling prey to the tempting smell of concession stand popcorn (sometimes) and the girls get all excited to see the pictures of themselves in the LCD panel on the back of the camera. "They're famous" says Paul Ray.

Hayley runs up and down the field but doesn't actually make contact with the ball a whole lot. She's not as experienced as some of the second graders but that doesn't bother her. A father of one of the other 1st grade girl's says that his daughter plays soccer pretty much the same way she played basketball. "She skips a lot, she likes to skip". But really, the games can have some exciting moments. Hayley looks up to one of the better players on the team. She asked, even pleaded, to get her hair cut just like Eden's. Through Eden and her other teammates Hayley has been inspired to try her best, she's made new friends and she's having fun. So far this is a good start to what I'm hoping is a lifelong enjoyment of sports and exercise. Now, if that doesn't sound like a soccer mom - it must be something in the popcorn.