Last of Spring Soccer Season

So we finished State Cup today without five of our players, three of them starters. We had six of eleven players playing unfamiliar positions, and one guy playing with only one eye after an injury to the head. We played in temps hovering near 100. Oh, my, it was hot!

We played game one with less skill but with much more heart. We lost 3-2 after one heck of a come back. We would have won if all of our starters had been there, but I've never seen such effort from a group of boys.

We lost game two 0-1 after two over-times. This same team we have beaten in the last four matches. We would have won with our starters, but good calls from the reffing team would have also been helpful.

As it stands, we qualified to play in Southern Regional Premiere next fall. We played exceptional soccer with who and what we had. Now it's time for a break. Four weeks and then they are back on the pitch.

I'm already excited and can hardly wait to have a go at another state championship!

 

Spring Soccer Celebration

Keagan ended his soccer spring season with a bang. He was awarded certificates for most goals, team captain #1, and communication field general.


I think this means he is a pretty good soccer player.

Basketball Camp Part Deux

That's a wrap! Basketball camp number two is in the books. This week the boys trained at the local university, and even though the stars of the team were no-shows, the boys enjoyed the stations and work-out more this year. It was so good they both came home at 3:30 ready for a nap!

Keagan won the Hot Shot contest for his age group by hitting the most free throws. 

Then there was this. 

On a whim I took Keagan to his brother's soccer club tryouts and had him try out just to see what happened. At least 60 boys were there, though, and I started to second guess myself. After about an hour, the club offered him a position on the top team! We celebrated his great day with chicken fried steak, watermelon, and orange Fanta. He was in heaven!

Middle School Orientation

Watch out RMS! Next year you get both of the Toole boys amongst your hallways.  Thanks to today's orientation, Keagan had his two burning middle school questions answered.

1. What's for lunch?

2. Do we have to walk class-to-class in a straight line?

He was pleased with both answers. 

I might have two middle schoolers now,  but we have a full summer of fun ahead of us! We will forget about school for another seven weeks!

Court Time

The State Cup is rained out today - even though the sun is shining and the weather is perfect! No one is upset about this decision, especially not us. Not at all. It's only half of our team that can't play next weekend, and the state has chosen next Saturday as our make-up game day. Nope, not upset at all. Especially not my dad who drove nine hours to watch some soccer!

 

With no soccer games to play, we spent our day on the courts. Keagan played in his last tournament of the season and played lights out with a steal, a lay up, a three pointer, a free throw, an assist, and a rebound (and maybe several of each).

We would have won the last game, except with 23 seconds left, a player came up behind Keagan, pushed him to the ground, and literally took him, along with our win, out. Thankfully, he is concussion free.

After lunch, we drove north into Kentucky to watch Evan's basketball team play. They played three games and won another championship. Evan had a great defensive game in the semi-final rebounding several times and keeping the shooters down low from getting many shots off.

 

What do people do in the summer when they don't play sports? This question eludes me.

Weekend Fun

This weekend I have one boy hiking in the woods and swimming in water falls with his soccer team buddies.

Then I have another boy playing in the state soccer tournament.

Evan's team won game one 3-1, and we are waiting out the rain delay before game two begins.

People, this is one great weekend. 

Summer Camp #1

Summer camp number one is in the books. The boys have attended the RHS basketball camp three summers in a row; this marks Evan's last year to be able to attend. 

Three hours of camp, lunch, a nap, and now both boys are back in the drive way shooting hoops. This is not too far removed from our summer routine when they were ages 4 and 2, except they played on the swingset instead of playing basketball. Perfect summer day!