I couldn’t just post about one daughter’s soccer results and not the other. 🙂 Annalee had her soccer tournament today and also got a silver medal!
(Anna is the third girl on the bottom)
Her team was undefeated this season but the red Walnut Grove team was just unstoppable today! They won their first two games and then red team beat them. They worked their way back up and faced off with the red team again in the final game and it was very close (2 to 3) but victory went to Walnut Grove yet again (they took gold in Victoria’s age group against our town last night too).
Anna’s team (the white team) sure gave us some great entertainment though! Their second game of the day went into double overtime. They were still tied up and they went to a shoot out, where each team had 5 players kick towards the goal and whoever scored the most points won. The red team was ahead 2-0 and white came from behind. At the last kick white tied THAT up too! They went to sudden death. The red team missed their first kick. White’s little goalie said he wanted to try and that was allowed. He got it! White won! What a suspenseful game!
Anna’s soccer career has been quite an experience. She played one year when she was very young and it was very easy and then she quit the next year because it was too rough and scary. She was one of those kids who was afraid when the ball came at her. Last year she didn’t want to try out at all. This year she decided to give it a shot and she’s been getting right in the thick of things.
She even blocked the ball with quite a blow to the stomach today! She proudly told us afterwards about "taking one for the team." It knocked the wind out of her!
All season I have gotten a kick out of watching her because she is such a little butterfly of a girl. She flits all over. She does random dance moves when she’s bored. She chats with her teammates nearby when there’s no action (all with her eyes still on the ball). She bounces and spins and smiles. When there’s action she runs right up and gets in there, though, and she had some great kicks today.
I love this picture of Annalee because it sums up all the parts of her personality. She’s wearing her children’s theater T-shirt for the drama and love of acting. She’s got her ever-present camera in her hand for photos and movies. She’s wearing dangly dress-up earrings because she will always be the ultimate girlie-girl. And she’s got her beloved soccer ball, because she’s learned to love the game and that she’s pretty tough after all.
