Fall Sports

 Sorry about the picture, Kev, but it's the only one I got without another runner in my way.  Kevin ran cross-country with the high school this year, and he did great.  His team won the 3A state championship today.  Kevin didn't run today, because the JV team didn't compete in the state meet, but he ran in the region championships last week and got his PR of 19:10.  Not too bad for a 9th grader.  Especially since he has been playing club soccer at the same time, and he decided at the beginning of the season that when there was a conflict he would give soccer the priority.  He missed quite a few x-country practices and a couple of meets so he could fulfill his soccer obligations.  Next year if he does both, those priorities will most likely switch.  He has been good to not complain about his busy schedule and to keep his grades up this term, so maybe he can do it all. We'll see.  Now that x-country and outdoor soccer are over it's almost time for school basketball and indoor soccer to begin.  It never ends with this kid.

Matt has been busy with soccer, too.  He has had a good season, but unlike the rest of our kids, the intensity of club soccer has become a little too much for Matt.  He has started to be sad when it's a soccer day.  Now that the fall season is over, he's going to take a break.  Soccer is so all-encompassing (2-3 hours a day, 3-4 days a week, year round) that if a child isn't enjoying it, there's really no point.  We're going to try tennis lessons for a while, and let him see if he likes that. He took some from the city this summer and thought they were fun, and the best part -they'll only be once a week :) If he wants to play a session of indoor soccer with his team he can, but he's not going to do all three sessions straight through the winter like last year.  Personally, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if he were done with soccer for good.  It has been really fun and good for my older children, but it takes so much time, and Matthew, at least right now, just doesn't have the same love for it.  Time will tell.

Back on Matt's birthday, before the season started, -Strikers Cup Champions