The kids weren't sure where to line up or what to do.
Though the second they put the ball in play the one kid on our team who has played before and who knows what he is doing took the ball and scored.
The boys meanwhile waited on the sidelines for their turn.
When it was their turn, Ryan stepped out on the field and then promptly announced that he had to go potty. Again. So Kevin took Ryan and went in search of the restrooms a mile away and Connor and some of the other kids went into the game.
Connor only touched the ball once. With his hands. When one of the other kids on his team was kicking it the wrong way and he was trying to turn it back around to go the right way. Poor guy.
Our ref was a hoot. He really got a workout. The kids didn't really respond when he blew his whistle so he spent alot of his time trying to race ahead of the kids 20 feet off the field or 20 feet into the other game's field to steal the ball away.
And when that didn't work once or twice he picked up the kids kicking the ball and ran with them to catch the ball and stop it. It was a good thing he was really, really fast, and energetic.
At one point when 3/4 of the kids from our game were standing on the other teams field as one of the other teams were driving to their goal one the the kids from the other team in our game leaned down and caught their ball and then used his hands to roll into their opponets goal. I just about died laughing.
Getting the kids out onto the field was quite an adventure as well. The coach wasn't very organized and didn't seem to have a plan about who would go in when. He would go up and down the sidelines asking who hadn't been into the game and would get 6 or 7 kids out on the field and then send some back.
The first time he asked both the boys popped up ready to go and were then told to go back to their seats and wait for next time. The next time he came by neither of them wanted to go. I bribed Connor with treats and finally wrestled Ryan's yellow ball out of his hands and practically booted him out on to the field amid threats to just go home if he wasn't going to get out there and play. It was not my finest mom moment.
Thanfully, after his 15 minute restroom break with just a few minutes left in the game he actually did get out onto the field to play.
And kicked the ball. And kicked it, and kicked it, and kicked it way off the field missing the goal by a good 5 feet and continuing to kick the ball until almost at the edge of the forest where the ref finally caught up with him and scooped the ball away.
On a bright note, the other team wasn't terribly well prepared either. They only managed to get the ball on our half of the field once, and never scored.
Final Score: Portland - 2, Houston - 0.
I have a nephew who just turned 4 in May and when we went out to visit for his birthday we also got to see his 3-and-4 year-olds soccer game. It was hilarious - like a swarm of bees chasing the ball, just as likely to kick it toward the opposing goal as their own, and absolutely no order to the chaos. And that was the 2nd to last game of their season! Their league played 4 on 4 though, no goalies and no score-keeping. Everyone wins! It was cute to watch and the boys all had a great time.
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