Thursday - Back to Soccer

We awoke to another sunny and beautiful day – maybe a little too warm for the girls as they returned to double sessions with Behr and a match tonight against the South 1 District team from Holland. Behr continued to teach the girls about building from the back, making pressure and possessing the ball. It may have been a little too sunny for Allie Astor, who despite repeated reminders to apply sunscreen missed a few spots (like both arms and back of legs).

The highlight of the day was playing a match against one of the six district teams from Holland. Holland is a country of over 16 million people and they have six District Teams that then feed into the National team. Prior to our match, their coach gave us a presentation on youth soccer development in Holland and shared that one of the girls from the game (a 14-year old) was already on the National U-15 team. Prior to the match Geneva and Katie Costello continued their week long tradition of braiding their teammates’ hair, Wendy included.

Our girls came out slightly intimidated and fell behind 3-1 in the first half. Nearing the end of the half Kaelyn had an outstanding header on a dangerous cross to save a potential goal. After a motivational halftime speech, the girls came out much more confident for the 2nd half and played the rest of the game to a draw (3-1 final). Heeding her mom’s encouragement, Shannon took out the goalie on a tackle. Most dedicated fan award goes to Linda Norris who flew across the ocean to watch three-quarters of U-14 match in Holland.

After the match and dinner, the girls unwound by going to an indoor pool. After paying the one Euro admission, Anna is now down to two Euros. Mia displayed gymnastic ability from the high dive, nailing a Russian Split. A spirited synchronized swimming competition coordinated by Coach Wendy confirmed that the girls are playing the correct sport.

Chaperones of the year award goes to Chrissy and Candy for spending a beautiful spring day doing laundry, grocery shopping, and preparing fruit salad.