Addler Family in NC: The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat......

The week before school started back in August, we started Fall soccer practices. We are about 3/4 of the way through the season and I feel like we are barely treading water to keep up. We missed one of Madelynn's games because logistically with Phil working and I needed to be at two different fields in a 45 minute period, it physically was not possible. I have missed part of one of Jackson's games because I needed to be across the county at Madelynn's game. The only way I have been able to keep up with three kids on three different teams is to plug it all into my google calendar and share it with Phil.

The last two weekends have been the most stressful as a parent watching my children excel in this sport. Last weekend Kaitlynn played about 10 minutes of a 25 minute half as goalie. I took my glasses off and just closed my eyes I couldn't watch. The Lady Hurricanes were losing horribly for the first time ever and the coach allowed the girls to play in different positions since there was no way they could catch up. It was a great learning experience.

Although the other team did score twice on Kaitlynn she had a few amazing saves that left me speechless. Saturday Kaitlynn told me she was playing the first half as a midfielder and the second half as goalie. 25 minutes as goalie I thought I was going to puke. The girls won 2-0. Kaitlynn let NOTHING get past her. She did make a few minor mistakes but her teammates stepped up and were amazing.

At the end of the game, the other teams coach and goalie hunted her down and congratulated her on such an amazing game. I don't know who was more stunned Kaitlynn or I. As a parent, I almost cried tears of joy to see her becoming successful at something she really wanted. You see in order to become a goalie Kaitlynn had to ask the coach to take her off offense and put her in the goalie box.

Kaitlynn as the Goalie. I was not prepared for this.

Today, the Lady Hurricanes were not quite as lucky; they lost 3-2. Kaitlynn played about 15 minutes as goalie again had a few great saves but the girls were able to score on her. However, her coaches told her for only playing three games as goalie she is doing great and they are very pleased with her progress.

I know as the goalie you have to be able to punt the ball.
I was stunned at how well she did this.

Then we sat and watched Jackson's team play. I have to admit I was not looking forward to it at ALL. His team has been winless all season and I am quite irritated with the coach. Phil has stepped up to be an assistant coach and that has helped some. The one time Phil coached the game alone the boys tied instead of losing and you could see the boys coming together.

Today, I saw something that as a parent I was beaming with pride. In order for the boys to be successful as a team, Jackson discovered he needed to not be the scorer but the assistant. He was able to get the ball down field and cross the ball to the forward and they started scoring. They didn't just win but WON 6-3. I was so proud of him, he wasn't disappointed he didn't score the most points he was glad the boys finally won.