With spring just around the corner (although, you wouldn't know it with the crazy, ever-changing weather here in Utah!), a new season for sports has begun. Jeff had his first game of spring comp soccer and although the weather didn't look too great, it didn't dampen his excitement.
We were hoping the weather would hold at just being cloudy and a bit windy, but just a few minutes into the first half, it started to snow. Bleh. But, Jeff and his teammates played on and gave it their best.
Jeff remembered all of his gear except for his gloves, but he was adamant that he was okay with just tucking his hands into his sleeves. It made me laugh because this is the kid who wants to go outside in shorts and a tshirt, no matter what the weather.
They played well, and although they lost 2-3, their coaches were proud of the effort they put in despite the weather. It looks like they're off to a great start!
Ryan is also playing lacrosse this spring; it'll be his last considering he's graduating in May. It was a long road for him to get to this point: he was positive that with his SBO duties, work responsibilities, and church activities, he would be too busy to play. He took the fall season off and we just told him that it was his decision and we would support him in whatever he decided.
I won't lie, I really hoped that by the time spring rolled around he would remember how much he enjoys the sport, and decide to play; I love watching him play. He's an excellent player and thrives at it. But, as the deadline for registration crept closer, he announced that he wouldn't be playing.
What I didn't know was that his coaches and some of his teammates were still in contact with him and inviting him to come back. Apparently, when some of them realized he wasn't playing Fall Ball, they made it their mission to get him to commit to spring season.
I didn't think much of it until Ryan came home one night and showed me a text conversation between him and one of his coaches. The gist of it was that the coaches wanted him to play and would do whatever it took to get him to play because they felt like he deserved to finish off his senior year on a high note with all of the improvement and skills he's gained. Mind you, this was about four days before the registration deadline and after he'd told us he wasn't playing. Long story short, he took more time to think about it, and ultimately decided to play.
This meant we had to scramble a bit to get him registered, but, it was worth it to see him play in his first game of the season (which was actually the second game since the coaches invited him to watch the first game in order to see how he still felt about the sport in order to make up his mind up, one way or another).
He was a bit rusty, and it showed, but we're confident that he'll find his groove and get back to it. Like I said, I really enjoy watching him play this sport. He's grown and improved since the first time he picked up a lacrosse stick (5 years ago, wow!), and it makes me proud that his coaches have acknowledged that to.
Here's to a great spring season of sports!
