Another depressing game for Charles today with a final score of 0-8. On the one hand, not as many goals scored against them, but on the other they didn’t score at all. At least they had a good number of players so Charles was able to sit out for a quarter. I could tell the difference when he was out. The quarter he was out one of the opposing players drove in for a score four times in less than 5 minutes. Even with 4 people defending the goal, she could basically just drive through and kick it in with little difficulty. Eventually the other coach sent her back to defense to make it not quite so embarrassing. I am not sure the coach has told them that the goalie can pick up the ball, or that the goalie should stay near the goal without actually hiding inside it. As the ultimate insult, there was no snack after the game. Charles was very depressed, even though Mom took us all out for pancakes afterwards.
Charles played a very good game, make a real difference whenever he was in. He played midfield and offense, although in reality he covered defense as well. I thought about telling him not to come back so much, but if he didn’t the ball would go to the other side even less, even though there’s a girl on the team (Ana) who can put on a good drive. Charles frequently cut across to stop opponents with the ball, rather than just chasing after them which greatly improved his ability to stop an attack.
There are several other players who have some ability, but it seems like only Charles and Ana have any idea of playing style more advanced than chase the ball or stand and wait. The coaches seem a bit too laid back and don’t interact much with the kids during the game which doesn’t help with the lack of playing knowledge. Oh well.
Corwin’s game was canceled because of the heavy rains of the last day or two. The park district didn’t want their nice soccer fields stomped in to mud pits. Instead they had a scrimmage at the same set of fields as Charles’ game, which was convenient. Because Charles had a real game I watched that and only saw the end of Corwin’s game. The boy needs to get some more running in — Mom claimed she was going to make him do wind sprints.