We survived our first double soccer tournament this weekend with both kids playing in Monroe, Louisiana's Mardi Gras Madness Tournament. It was COLD and RAINING for most of the games, so there was a lot of "running" back and forth from the car to the fields, trying to keep the kid who wasn't playing somewhat warm and dry. (I actually clocked myself at 8 miles total walking over the weekend, including the Mardi Gras Parade that we attended Saturday night.) James' game times had the very worst of the weather, but he was such a good sport about it! I took pictures when I could, but my hands were freezing and the rain made everything blurry, but for posterity's sake... See if you can find James and Cora in each of the action shots below ;-)
James' first game:
Cora's first game (James ventured out onto the field with me once he was reheated):
Lunch break:
It literally POURED during James' second game (and I watched it from the back of a tent), so we're moving right along onto Cora's second game here:
GOAL!
Monroe Mardi Gras Parade (and tailgate party with Lori and her family):
Lots of traffic getting out of town and very tired kids after such a long day:
Day TWO, James' third game, weather NOT improving:
Cora's third (and final) game:
The River Belles tied for First Place (the coaches were shocked out how evenly the numbers played out) and took home some pretty cool medals!
Camden, Leah, Cora, Tamiyah, Addy M, Chloe, Allie, Addy C, Mary Clell, Avery, Harper, Laney, and Sarah (Emily had to leave for Texas after game two yesterday) - yes, we have enough girls to make two complete teams, which leads to a lot of turnover during games!
James' fourth game (the boys played each of the other two teams twice):
This was the first tournament for the Intruders and it's obvious they haven't had the experience of playing together (unlike the River Belles, who have been together since last spring when they were the UniSharks) or anywhere near the amount of practice time that the girls have been getting. That is a factor of coach commitment (they're ALL volunteers, it's just that the girls coaches are all deeply invested in their team AND that the girls/coaches are willing to practice, and play games, even when the weather truly sucks because they want to get better, together) as well as practice time (half the boys team plays baseball, which overlaps/interferes with soccer practice, so they simply don't have the camaraderie and familiarity with each other's playing styles as the girls team has).
That said, they DID play very hard this weekend and gave it their best effort, and they learned a lot, so they can only go up from here!
Jacob, Brandon, James L, Witt, Eriam, Chris, Harrison, JC, Allen, Klein, and James T
