Move over David Beckham

Holy cow, this kid loves soccer! We tried the U5 program last year and Ben wasn't into it. It was a lot of skills and techniques with very little scrimmaging. We could barely get him to finish out the season!

Now he's on a U6 team. He has 5 teammates, and they have practices, scrimmages and games. His coach is a wonderful lady who played soccer in college and she's very good with these boys! On the first night of practice, we noticed that Ben had one other equal on the team. This kid, Travis, can kick the ball like no other! After two weeks of games and practices, we've noticed these boys must have been separated at birth. They get along like peas and carrots and they are both giants! Since U6 plays three against three, they split Ben and Travis up. That way there is always one more seasoned player on the field. At the very first game we finally figured out Ben's technique. Boys this age tend to horde the ball like seagulls over stale bread. Ben hangs back by the goal and when the ball flies free from the pack he captures it, and makes it down field and scores before anyone is the wiser. It's actually pretty cool to watch.

At his second game we noticed that when Ben's teammates stole the ball from their opponent, they had a hard time turning the ball back to their direction. They would take these wide U-turns in front of their goal, and inevitably, the other team would catch up right in front of our goal and score. Ben captured the ball right in front of our goal once. He stopped it, put his toe at the top of the ball and spun it backwards, out the the way of the goal and took it down field. It was so cool to see him try that move. Jason and I use that on him in the backyard, and although it was slower and cautious, he got it!

They have managed to win both of their games, and Ben scored three goals in both games. Best of all, he loves his team and his coach and, best of all, he loves playing the sport!