End of the year update - soccer

Breanna's soccer season ended about a week ago.  This spring season has been her team's best.  They went undefeated 10-0.  The girls really gelled this season and they worked together well.  In the fall we got about 8 new girls from another team and it wasn't going very well.  Four of the girls quit for the spring season and that made all the difference.  The girls that really wanted to be playing soccer stayed on the team and so they worked hard and it worked out well for them.

Bree played striker all season, which is up front and center on the offense.  I always love watching her play because she is so determined out there.  She gets double and triple teamed a lot but doesn't back down.  She is a hustler.

The girls played in a tournament at the end of the season and it was a repeat of last year.  They played so well on Friday and Saturday that they made it into the finals on Sunday.  Bree of course didn't get to play on Sunday (and another new girl is also LDS and didn't play either).  A third girl was going to  Six Flags that day so we only had one sub for the game. 

The team played their hearts out but lost 0-1.  It was a bummer and Bree took it really hard.  She really wanted to play and she felt that if she were there maybe they would have won.  We'll never know, but I do know that we did what is right.  It is hard, very hard, but it was right.  Hopefully Bree can see that one day.

Our coach is awesome.  He petitioned the commissioner to stop having the final games on Sundays.  The commissioner doesn't let his kids play on Sunday either, but the board ultimately decided the schedule.  They said maybe next year they'll think about it.  The commissioner said he would do his best at not scheduling our team for Sunday games (Bree had a couple this season, but one was rescheduled for a weekday). 

I talked to our coach and told him we were sorry we couldn't be there but we felt strongly about not playing.  He told me that he respects us for our conviction and would be disappointed in us if we went against our beliefs just for soccer.  He is a very good man.

For every game, Breanna always wears her hair in what the girls call her "octopi".  Her octopi are two ponytails which flip up and kind of resemble octopuses or octopi (i'm not sure what the plural is).  That is why her hair always looks a bit fly away.  It is cute though and she has worn this hairdo for years now.

The girls had a soccer party at the end of the season.  The coach handed out trophies to each of the girls and said nice things about each of them.  He always leaves Breanna for the last and he always has such nice things to say about her.  He said she is the best athlete he has ever coached and that she is such a leader on her team (among other things).  I always feel a bit uncomfortable when he praises her but she sure eats it up. 

Bree is at the age that she travels around to other soccer associations in the area to compete.  She plays on the Keller soccer association.  Out of all the Keller teams ages 10-18, boys and girls, Bree's team was the only one that got a 1st place trophy.  Two teams in the league got 2nd place trophies.   I thought that was pretty cool.

I just thought this was a funny picture of her playing volleyball.