tourney soccer

Both kids are playing in end-of-season soccer tournaments for their teams - three guaranteed games, and the opportunity to play in single-elimination brackets and a championship match. Sebastian had a game on Saturday and another on Sunday; Liesl had two on Saturday afternoon. Both kids played AMAZING on Saturday. The games were really fun to watch, and we were so proud of their effort, grit, and teamwork -- it's been wonderful to see them grow and learn this season.

Sebastian has become one of his team's strongest defenders; he usually plays left back, which means he's responsible for guarding the other team's right forward. He is strong and confident back there; at the beginning of the season, he was most focused on not letting anyone get behind him, which was important, but meant that sometimes he chose not to go after the ball because he was being cautious. He's learned to trust his speed and defensive capabilities a little more and has been stepping up to the ball and being more aggressive. It's fun to see. When he does get the opportunity to play at midfield or forward, that's really fun too, because he gets to run a little more and use his speed.

In Saturday's game, they were outplayed by the other team - our team had a hard time completing passes, didn't get any really good shots on goal, and probably only had possession a third of the time - but the boys held on and managed to get a 0-0 tie at the end. The game went to penalty kicks; Sebastian was chosen to go second in his team's line-up, and he scored. Phew! Our goalie ended up saving one of their team's shots, meaning that we won at the end on penalties.

Liesl is playing in a tournament with the Blunicorns - six of the most interested and enthusiastic girls from her team signed up to play. It's still 4 v 4 and the tiny goals, but this weekend they were so fierce. They fought for possession, they had a lot of determination, they passed the ball and tried to spread out and even employed some of their skills (pullbacks!). It was so fun to watch; Liesl was outstanding in both games, dribbling around the other team, passing to her teammates, scoring a goal, sprinting back on defense. They won the first game 4-1 and tied the second 0-0.

Liesl played in her final LYS game on Sunday - that was apparently not as fun to watch, as her team was sluggish and uncoordinated and lost 3-0. Sebastian's Sunday game was also not so fun - he didn't play very well and got benched, and his team went down 8-1. Oh well! At least we had Saturday to feel good about. They will each play one more game next Saturday, and then depending on the outcome of that game, they will go on or be eliminated.