Proud of this kid. Not only did his team sweep the ⚽️ tournament, but they did it with good sportsmanship.
5-0 at the half with the first team. Coach told them to not score any more unless they kept passing it backwards with 4 touches to get in good back field play practice in a real game without big risk, and to be respectful to the other team. Won 7-0.
Second game the team was super shovey. And the ref wasn’t impressing anyone… even the side AR was saying he wasn’t making calls. And the few calls he did were equally off. Penalty in the goalie’s box resulted in a penalty kick that they scored off, when the kid tripped over his own foot. Ah, well. Kids kept their cool and pushed back a little but didn’t play dirty. Final score 2-1.
Third game was 7-0 by the half. Coach did the same respectful play and said they had to play in the back half so they learn to not always only look forward. One play we kicked to our own keeper a little too hard and scored an own-goal. Final score 8-1.
Championship game, guess who? Team 2, shovey team. But if we got a decent ref, it’d work in our favor. And we did. The ref was cool, called it as he should, but wasn’t the opposite of the first ref and overly sensitive. Was fair play. And I think the other team learned that playing dirty doesn’t win. Final score 2-0.
They’re now 2-0 in tournaments, winning back-to-back.
I’m mostly proud of my son’s work ethic. This kid puts in the work. I’d guess 4-6 mornings a week he’s asking to shoot on me and me to shoot on him. And 4-6 evenings he does the same.
He also will spend time kicking with his opposite foot… and now he’s ambidextrous, scoring points with his other foot.
Been a few times I choke up seeing him score on that opposite foot, get in a block doing a superman, or just doing the things that he’s put the work on. 🥹
