Soccer Season Sum Up

The fall in Germany means…..leaves of every color everywhere.  It is awesome to be here in the Fall.  Especially after living in Vegas and not seeing much in the way of seasons.  These trees are right by the soccer fields in Donnelly Park on base.  I could not resist taking a picture this day.  I LOVE FALL!  Not just because of the trees, but also because of Soccer season! 

Soccer was really fun this year!!  The kids really lucked out on getting on fun teams packed with kids from the ward.  It helped that we all had to request teams that played on Monday and Wednesday nights because of scouts, activity days, and young women’s on Tuesday nights.  I decided to coach Hanna’s age and try to get all the ward kids on my team.  It could not have gone any better…..I got everyone I wanted and even a few extras. Candice Jensen offered to assistant coach with me.  She is awesome at defense.  With my offensive drills and her defensive we came to have really strong and balanced practices.  We worked hard and the players improved a lot.  The whole team improved together.  It was my favorite coaching experience yet.   During the coaches meetings I was able to secure Hanna, Sophie and Brigs on my team.  (Candices kids).  Then I carefully traded for each of the ward players.  Each player had been assigned a number in the tryout according to skill levels while we the coaches all stood and watched them do a few drills.  Its not really the best skills assessment system, but it worked out to our advantage this year.  Most of the kids received around an 8 or below.  The coaches were kind of tough.  A lot of the ward players really weren’t awarded that high of a number, so I was able to trade other players I was randomly given to get those players.  So going into it a had a lot of 8 and belows, but I knew I also had  2 really good players.  Then we were given our secret weapon Kendall.  A late sign up and missed the skills assessment so they just threw her on a team.  She’s a tall, lanky, 7th grade girl who doesn’t look like an athlete until she steps on the field and starts playing.  Wow is she fast and tough.  She has really good coordination for her height too.  Having her on our team kind of sealed the deal.  We were unstoppable.  Like I said, It was an AWESOME Fall!  Monday and Wednesday nights were like ward parties at the fields.  Lots of friends, moms and dads to visit with and talk soccer talk with.  My kind of Fall!   

Josh played on the Gray Sharks 5-6 year old team this year.  He is assuming the Chugg Family kid roll in soccer and gravitating toward being a defender. Although toward the end of the season, he became really aggressive and had several opportunities to “almost score a goal”.  His team and coaches came to heavily rely on him and he fast became a leader amongst his team mates.  Although he never missed an opportunity to make his teammates giggle and ham it up for the camera.  Grandma Karyl had an especially good time watching our sweet Josh play soccer.   

Jake has gravitated toward defense for several seasons now too.  he played on the Black Ninja Donkey’s team in the 9-10 year old age bracket.  He was the lead defender and his team relied on him to be in charge back there.  We wanted to see some more offensive time for Jake, but even when he’s put in as forward he naturally pulls back after a bit.  The Ninja Donkey’s came out on top as well and had an undefeated season.  Jake enjoyed having Cannon Barney and Weston Bodkin from church on his team. 

Carter had a lot of fun this season because he had Ridge Barney, Davis Fawcett, Ethan Zaugg, and Kyle Knepper on his team who all go to church.  Ridge and Davis are his two best friends here.  However, they did not have the greatest record.  They won a few games, but unfortunately lost a lot too.  This is the big leagues now and Carter had to step up to this new level.  Being one of the youngest and lightest of the 13-15 year old age bracket isn’t really an advantage, but we were so proud of him for sticking in there and playing hard all year.  He also is a defender who naturally just gets it back there.  He was the lead defender and often had to help out some girls that were next to him.  This only frustrated him a little. Okay A LOT!!  The ICE BREAKERS had a good season together and Carter will be back next year bigger, taller, faster, older, and stronger.  It was a good season where he really started understanding the defense position really well. 

Hanna played right midfield for me most of the season.  Hanna has grown a ton since we moved to Germany.  It is weird for Jared and I to look out on the field and see one of the tallest and strongest players and realize that it is our kid!  She worked a lot on passing and ball control this year.  She is a very reliable player that plays strong every single game.  The kind of player a coach relies on to win the ball back and move it up the field into scoring territory.  This girl did that all season.  Love this girl!  Hanna played in the 11-12 year old division on the all green “Kryptonite” team.  It will definitely be remembered as awesome.  We were undefeated, most games were shut outs, and won by several goals every game.  It was a coaching dream come true!  I was so proud to share this season with “MY GIRL”. 

This was before our first tournament game:  It was snowing and very cold.  Winter hit a little early this year which kept interfering with the tournament games.  Grandma Karyl was really good about watching game after game in the freezing cold and not complaining.  Even when the rescheduled games made us cancel hers and my girls trip to LONDON.  Bummer. 

Best Grandma award given to Grandma Karyl for putting up with a lot of freezing cold for grand kids to play soccer!  

The final game was played on a Wednesday night on “our field”.  We easily beat the team 3 – 0 and secured the 1st place title.  It was a great night!  Below, my two power house players: Kendall Spohr and Johnathan Harris.  They scored probably 8 times on corner kicks with Kendall kicking it and Johnathan heading it in.  Incredible players. 

The league awarded us trophies for first place in the tournament and then Candice and I gave each player a small size soccer ball for playing indoors.  Fun times! 

Players: top row- Landon Flake (forward), Josh McMurtry (forward), Hanna (midfield), Brigs Jensen (left defender), Sophie Jensen (right defender), Kendall Spohr (left forward), Johnathan Harris (center midfielder), Sam Steege (forward/goalie), Front row- Kahlil (Sweeper), Christian Fawcett (stopper), Oliver Zaugg (left midfield), Becca Belton (all over), Abby Urton (all over), Ethan Vincent (striker), Christina Cheatam (forward), Jacob Perez (goalie).