Crestview Middle School Soccer 2014

Soccer season has finally come to a merciful end.  

Back when Shandi was in high school, her coach was fantastic, and he ran both the high school and middle school programs.  All of the teams were successful and won several regional titles.  I was really looking forward to Justice being a part of his program.  Unfortunately,  he no longer runs the school soccer programs.  His daughter plays competitive soccer and he coaches her and he doesn't have the time to coach at the school anymore.  That's totally understandable, that's exactly what he should be doing.  But I'm really disappointed and so is Justice.  

I appreciate the efforts of the new coach, he is a volunteer and not even a teacher at the school.  He has taken the high school and middle school programs on and I hope he gets them up and off the ground soon.  That is a big responsibility for a volunteer and it will take a while for everything to gel.  If not, you can bet The Coach will be chomping at the bit to be involved.  

They ended the season 2-8.  Justice only scored two goals the whole season.  Actually, the entire team only scored six goals total for the whole season.  Ugh.  It was ugly soccer.  I thought Shandi's award winning All-State MVP head was going to explode on the sidelines of every game.  There were some positives throughout the season even though the season was a wash.  Justice was a starter, and as a sixth grader that's big business considering the team is 6th-8th grade.  He also played every minute of every game with no sub.  He's in good physical condition so it wasn't a big deal.  Hopefully he learned some things this season and can be a better player next year.  

I did not get many (any) action shots this season.  It was tough because I was also trying to make sure Bo was staying out of the mud and off the field.  Bleachers and babies don't mix well.  Ever.  My eyes were on this kid 99% of the time.

This skinny kid right here.  I feed him, I promise I do.  He eats like a fat man, but he exercises like a skinny kid so he burns it all off.  The day he breaks the 70 pound mark will be a big day.  I don't imagine it will be anytime soon, though.  

Yes, those cleats are hot pink.  If you run as fast as Justice you get to wear whatever color cleats you want to.   

Bad game.  Sad face.

 Bad game.  Sad face.  Tired face.  This game was an away game pretty far out in the country, and it was played the day we got back from the Treble Choir trip in Memphis.  This kid was EXHAUSTED, and rightly so.   

 Oh look, another sad face.  Poor Bubbie.  And yes, his stinky dirty feet are on the counter.  I'm cool with it.  Once you are on your sixth kid nothing really phases you anymore.  Nothing a Clorox wipe can't handle.

The short shirtless kid is Justice.  He's not really short for his age, he's just a sixth grader.  He holds his own on the field with the older kids though.  You can tell he is The Coach's son, he exhibits leadership skills out on the field that sixth graders don't usually have.  But when you grow up under The Coach, your life is like one giant locker room pep talk.  Some of that's bound to rub off on you.  

That's another thing worth mentioning.  Justice was SO disappointed when he realized not only middle school soccer, but also high school soccer probably won't turn out the way he would have liked it to.  He had high hopes of winning seasons under the old coach.  When he realized that wasn't likely going to happen, he was for all intents and purposes crushed.  I can see why, he's been dreaming of that coach  since he watched Shandi play under him six years ago.  We sat Justice down and told him he could play competitive club soccer "out in town" (not affiliated with a school) rather than play for the school.  He would get a much better learning and playing experience and I know from watching Shandi play that he would LOVE it.  But guess what he said?

He said no and didn't even have to think about it.  He said it would be wrong to "bail on my school like that".  He said he would rather play on a losing school team than "desert the school" to go play for a competitive league.  We are really proud of that decision and support it totally.  

Here is to hoping that next year will be better, but even if it's not, I know Justice will give it all he's got.