Sunday, September 04, 2011

It is almost more than one mama can bear. I mean really--look at these little cleats!



And wait for it.....


Look at that little soccer player- I think she is pretty much the cutest little thing on two legs. 

Her soccer team name is the Minnows, and I can't say I know a lot about minnows, but the name just seems to fit.

Saturday morning was Macie's first game and the whole family walked down to the soccer field to cheer her on. Big sister Tori helped Macie get warmed up for the game and her coach led them in a few warm up drills before they lined up to play. The team they were playing against was the Missiles, and I am going to say that unfortunately for the Minnows, that name pretty much fit, too. The whistle blew and the two forwards from the Missiles dash down the field and kick the ball in the goal before Macie's Minnow team had time to stop smiling at their parents on the sidelines. 

The whole game went about that way. One little girl on Macie's team had a little breakaway, but tripped over her feet and gave the ball back to the striking Missiles. And Macie took off one time with the ball, but sadly she was headed in the wrong direction.  Thankfully, she was having fun and still had a smile on her face as she ran around the field, completely oblivious to the fact they were probably losing 8 or so to nothing. 

Near the end of the game, Macie took her turn as goalie. She had a grossly oversized tie-dye shirt on and Jamie showed her how to be down in ready position. Sure enough the Missiles had a breakaway and kicked the ball at the goal. Macie reached down with her hands and stopped it. We cheered like crazy. She looked over to smile- you know that half nervous, half happy smile- and put the ball back down on the ground. The little boy on the Missile team took advantage of her kind gesture and kicked it in the goal. Macie was still half smiling at us on the sidelines. Oops. They line back up again and we tell Macie to get ready. Jamie instructs her from the sidelines that if someone kicks it at the goal and she stops it, she needs to hold on to it and not let go until they tell her to. She is down and ready and once again along comes another Missile breakaway. A pretty decent sized little boy heads right for my little Mace standing in a ready position in the goal. Macie moves forward and grabs the ball as the little boy goes to strike. She holds on to it just like her Daddy told her and the boy lands right on top of her. We cheer wildly. She stands up, holding on to the ball- this time 15% smiling (because we are cheering) and 85% ready to burst into tears. I can see them start to well up in her eyes and she moves her tongue along the inside of her lip like she always does when she is fighting back tears. Her coach, who is an incredibly sweet man, leans over and gives her a shoulder hug and tells her what a great job she did. She looks over at us on the sidelines. We keep cheering.  She is completely unsure as to what just happened. My heart is somewhere in my throat at that point and I am pulling my hat down to hide the tears that are welling up in my own eyes. I stand eagerly at the sidelines with Jamie firmly speaking in my hearing, "Don't you even think of going out there- You leave her be. Don't even think about it. Don't baby her."


So, I wait like a good girl by the sidelines and watch as my little soccer goalie gives the other team high fives and retrieves her snack. I give her a big hug, tell her how proud I am of her, and pull her home in the wagon. She tells me she had fun.

I am not sure I will endure the season without overflowing and exploding with love for this child. She captures my heart over and over again with her little ways. I never realized just how hard it is to be a soccer mom. :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I cried to read about it. Seriously. I am sitting here crying. Poor baby. I am glad I am not married to Jaime because I am pretty sure I would have totally disobeyed and headed out there to the field. I can not believe that super huge missile boy fell on top of her. Can't he tell she is a tiny minnow? That is craziness.

She is the cutest soccer player I have ever seen in my whole life. Hands down.

Richardson Family said...

Adorable, there is nothing like little girl soccer. Loved the part of the girl tripping over her own feet! So fun, wish we were there to see a game.

Anonymous said...

You had already shared this with us but we were still touched when we read it. We can't wait to see her play later on this month. Phil and Sue

Dan, Heather, and Bjorn said...

So incredibly cute! I love it! :-)