This weekend was the big game that put Noah against Caleb and Ian. John had a work conference he HAD to attend, so Papa and Lenora came down to help cheer on the teams. Caleb and Ian played the same team they lost to the first weekend of games then turned around and played Noah’s team. The games started right at lunch. It takes us thirty minutes to drive to the place, plus we had to be there early, so the boys ate in the car. The little kids enjoyed a picnic during the first game. It was a cold day in October, so we had everyone in layers and blankets to keep warm.
Caleb and Ian were excited to play. They won the game 5 to 0. Caleb had we think about 3 goals and Ian 1. I asked Caleb how many he had and he said he lost track. We did too. Ian’s goal was hard to tell because there was a mob at the goal! They played hard and did VERY well. There was once during the game a little boy on the other team was getting into Ian’s face and yelling “I don’t care if you kick me, you are going down.” This was the same little kid that in the last game had gotten a little frustrated with my boys because they were aggressive when they were fighting over the ball. Also Caleb was quick. When I saw him in Ian’s face I thought “Oh, no did Ian do something in the mob that I didn’t see?” I saw Ian trying to ignore him and the kid kept on, so Ian pushed him back a little. I yelled “Ian David” and he looked at me. I motioned to him to get away and then yelled “pay attention” as they were about to have a goal kick. I saw later the same kid talking trash to another player after the boys’ team had just scored again. I guess he was in a trash talking mood. When John heard about it, he told Ian good job for not getting in a fight but not letting someone yell in his face.
With about three minutes to rest, the brother against brothers game started. I was very nervous for this one. Not sure how the boys would react and how it would go. Caleb’s coach just put Caleb in, so it was a face off between Noah and Caleb. Noah was quick and you could tell Caleb was tired. It was a back and forth “Go Noah”, “Get the ball Caleb”. I tried to pump up Caleb by yelling “Are you going to let your brother score on you?” He would get pumped and then they would kick it off, Noah would get the ball and score. At one point I yelled “Caleb, that’s 3, 3 goals, don’t let him have another one!” Soon after that it was time for them to switch players.
Ian came out. He did really well trying to keep up with one of the players on Noah’s team that was bigger and older than him. He tried so hard! You could tell playing two games in the cold weather was not good for either of them. I think Ian was showing off just a little for Papa and Lenora since when we would yell for him he would look over and smile. Of course me being the parent that I am I “yelled stop smiling and pay attention to the game!” He looked cute, but he was letting those kids take the ball away from him!
The second half of the game Caleb and Ian were put in against Noah. It was a fight and I don’t think either side scored at all. The little brothers made it hard for big brother to get a goal!
Then all the boys were out. Towards the end of the game a little kid on Caleb’s team had to take a potty break, so Caleb took his place. Caleb’s coach asked him to just score 1 point for her. He tried SO hard, but you cold really tell he was tired. I asked him later if he was and he said “yes, that last time I was REALLY tired.” His legs hurt him the rest of the day. As hard as he tried he didn’t get a goal.
When the ref called time, Noah started to yell and run across the field. I quickly yelled “Noah Michael” and pointed towards his team lining up to shake the other team’s hand. He asked me later why I yelled at him and I explained that it wasn’t good sportsmanship to yell like that. I told him it wasn’t like he had won the World Cup or anything big, so to try not and over do his excitement when he wins.
I took a lot of videos since John wasn’t there, so that night we sat down and watched the videos. The boys were VERY excited to relive the games and tell Dad all about them. I’m very happy to say that they were all in good moods and there were no hard feelings. Each team had one at least one game and everyone was happy, tired, but happy!
