Final Thoughts on the Kids' Soccer Season (Mainly for Jean)

Solstice & Aiden wrapped up their fall seasons the way they began them: Solstice's team went an undefeated 6-0 & Aiden's team failed to win any, ending 0-6. Solstice's team won by 6 or 7 goals every week & Aiden's team lost by the same type of margin usually; however, he really grew as a player, moving to space & playing w/ his head up looking to pass all the time. Once the other kids are more able to pass to the space where he's running, things will turn around for them, I think. Next year I may put them on the same team though (like before) because it was a hectic 2 months & I think he'd be better served by playing w/ older kids. I'll never have her play down again though so I guess we'll have to wait & see how it works out. The big news of the final matchday, however, is that Solstice notched up her first goal of the season... not to mention the fact that she got 2 assists as well. That'd be 15 points if she were on my fantasy team. Her goal was hilarious too. A defender had a handled the ball about 15 feet from the goal which in their league is an in-direct kick. Solstice's teammate (known for scoring many, many goals) stepped up looking like he was going to shoot. I hollered repeatedly for him to pass it to Solstice, & for her to face the goal rather than the ball. They finally got the message & she knocked it towards the goal. I had told her before the game that she was going to get 1, but based on the strength of her shot, I didn't think this would be the 1 in question. It trickled past 2 defenders & under the goalie before said goalie rolled over & stopped the ball. From my vantage point, it didn't really look like the ball crossed the line, but apparently it did as the ref awarded a goal. Along w/ the previous 2 assists, this did wonders for her confidence as she even volunteered to go in goal in the 2nd half.Speaking of confidence builders, another Peltier lass got her 1st goal in years & years & years. After Solstice's game, I told Elizabeth that she would score too & that I'd put her up front until she did. She didn't like playing as an out & out striker, but after pulling back a bit into a more supporting role behind Charlie & me, she connected w/ a nice cross from Ben & slotted it into the back of the net. Just as I didn't think Solstice's would make it all the way to the goal, I had a bad feeling that LP's would go over the bar & I was again proven wrong. Daniel-san played the whole match in goal conceding only once when an elderly defender who will remain nameless slipped allowing them to catch us on the counter-attack. Charlie then finished off the match w/ a winner @ the death after Juan worked hard to hold up the ball @ the end-line & then drop it back to Charlie who was crashing the goal. There was a hint of off-sides as the other striker, Shaun, was in the goal mouth, but I think the defender who'd been marking Juan played him on-sides.With Arsenal getting 3 points @ West Ham & both Chelsea & Man U dropping points this weekend, it was an overall great 2 days of soccer. If only I'd decided to keep my fantasy team as it was I'd have moved above Demir too, but the 2 changes I made (Delap in for Fletcher & Lampard as captain instead of Adebayor) cost me 16 points. Other than that fantasy league blunder, my coaching decisions really seemed to pay off this weekend as everything went as planned. We'll see how The Dark Green team does this coming weekend in the final match as we're playing the only team who has beaten us thus far (a 7-2 drubbing a month ago). It seems like we need a speedier defense against these young kids which bring us to the final thought. Jean, (here starts the personal message to my brother) if you're thinking of coming up any time soon, this weekend would be good. There was even a little idle talk last night about pitching in for an Amtrak ticket. I like the idea of you stepping off the train wearing your shin-guards & boots. Besides, Elizabeth & Dan are having a party Saturday night so you could attend that too.