Anna has been asking us for a while if she could play soccer. Several weeks ago after church we headed to the same sporting good's store where I bought all my soccer gear growing up and got this little one all ready for her first season of soccer. Cleats...check! Shin guards...check! Soccer socks...check! Umbros (or the new brand of umbros)...check! A little girl all smiles...check! Here she is ready for her first practice. 
A week later it was a little colder for her second practice, but Anna was still all smiles.
Here are some action shots. She really is beginning to grasp the concept and has a great kick. 
This girl LOVES to play goalie! She asked enough at her first two practices that when it came game time she was the goalie for the first quarter of the first game. Sadly, we don't have pictures from her first game as I left the memory card for our camera at home. Anna did not let anyone score on her and actually grabbed several balls with her hands resulting in a couple of throw-ins and even a goalie kick. Several times we did have to quickly get her attention as she was easily distracted in the goal. However, as soon as you called her name she would squat down and spread her arms wide waiting for the ball. The other three quarters were spent out on the field. She might have been one of the few players on her team that played the entire time. She has several teammates who are not 100% sure they want to be playing. We spent most of the game either yelling for Anna to go after the ball or laughing. Anna thoroughly entertained us as she ran almost the entire game, but most of the time it was just chasing the mob of other little people around the ball. She had us laughing as she would scan the sidelines as she ran down the field. Her eye would catch something---a cheering mom, a crying teammate, a little baby playing and she would fixate on that until she realized a game was being played. She beamed from ear to ear as she ran because of the crowd of people on either sideline cheering. I am sure many more pictures are to come of our soccer star in her jaguar uniform! 
A week later it was a little colder for her second practice, but Anna was still all smiles. Here are some action shots. She really is beginning to grasp the concept and has a great kick. This girl LOVES to play goalie! She asked enough at her first two practices that when it came game time she was the goalie for the first quarter of the first game. Sadly, we don't have pictures from her first game as I left the memory card for our camera at home. Anna did not let anyone score on her and actually grabbed several balls with her hands resulting in a couple of throw-ins and even a goalie kick. Several times we did have to quickly get her attention as she was easily distracted in the goal. However, as soon as you called her name she would squat down and spread her arms wide waiting for the ball. The other three quarters were spent out on the field. She might have been one of the few players on her team that played the entire time. She has several teammates who are not 100% sure they want to be playing. We spent most of the game either yelling for Anna to go after the ball or laughing. Anna thoroughly entertained us as she ran almost the entire game, but most of the time it was just chasing the mob of other little people around the ball. She had us laughing as she would scan the sidelines as she ran down the field. Her eye would catch something---a cheering mom, a crying teammate, a little baby playing and she would fixate on that until she realized a game was being played. She beamed from ear to ear as she ran because of the crowd of people on either sideline cheering. I am sure many more pictures are to come of our soccer star in her jaguar uniform! 