Oliver's First Soccer Team!

A quick smile before the game

A good luck kiss before the game

A little goofy before the game!

Oliver was thrilled to have one of his favorite cousins, Hudson, at his game

Hudson and his "fan club"

Papa Potts and Hudson

The coach warming everyone up before the game

Go Monkeys!!!

Yeah team!!

Thomas giving Oliver a pep talk while warming up

Jake taking a little time out!

A nice action shot

Making a break away and heading for the goal

Making a goal!

Exhausted after running, running and more running!

Jake & Oliver enjoying a much deserved refreshment after the game

As I was going through my pictures of this last year I realized I completely forgot to post pictures of Oliver's first soccer team experience. He and his friend Jake were on the same team. The kids decided on the "Monkeys" for their team name and boy, oh boy, did they ever live up to that name!

Oliver somehow ended up with jersey #4 and I was thrilled since that happens to be my favorite number! My soccer # was also 4 all through junior high and high school so he got a kick out of having the same # as mom!

Oliver did awesome for his first time. His first game was so exciting! He scored 4 goals (2 for his own team and 2 for the other team due to some confusion). The 2nd game he scored 5 goals, the 3rd game he scored 3 goals and then I stopped keeping track. At the end of the season when the coach was handing out the trophys he said a little something about each kid and how far they had progressed and he jokingly said "Oliver was our high scorer. He had the biggest entourage at every game (due to his own parents/all 4 grandparents/Uncle Jer & every once in a while a cousin or 2) and even people from other teams would come over to watch Oliver play. He really made a name for himself." He was joking, of course. Except for the entourage. That was a little embarassing, but he loved having all of his "fans" there to cheer him on. He had a fantastic coach...he had a great sense of humor/sarcasm and he was really laid back about the kids learning how to play and be a team. It really was a bit like trying to keep 6 puppies on the field in their particular position all at the same time. I would be horrible at it and you will never witness me signing up to be a coach :)

Anyway, he had a great time (which is the whole point) and we loved cheering for him. He is going to do baseketball in January so we'll see how we do at that one. He got a new basketball & hoop for Christmas so he can start getting the hang of it. Thomas was big time into basketball so he is already teaching him the lingo and some "old school" moves from back in the day. Don't break a hip dear!!!