The post-prandial Thanksgiving nap

Emi's watching rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott lead the 'Boys to a 31-26 victory over Washington. Olivia, for the moment, is not.

Emi balls: Season One, Game Four

Before the game started, Coach Marr told Emilio he could do more driving this game. He did.

We won this one: 20-10. Next up: a doubleheader on Saturday, December 3rd.

Emi's side, from left to right: Belen, Warrick, Luke, Kendon, Emi. Assistant coach: Adrie Marr.

Emi y abuela

End of Season Portrait

A Loan

As Emi's U-14 team game was wrapping up, we learned that Ada's second U-12 team wasn't sure they had enough players for their upcoming game, and they wanted to know if Emi could join them.

Emi started at forward and enjoyed strategizing plays with the other forwards.

Patience preceeds a well-placed crosser.

For the second time this weekend, Emi scores his team's only goal. That's thirty-one on the season.

Off the post! 5:50

Late into the game, his fifth sporting event of the weekend, Emilio was hustling into the corner to run down the ball. I think he likes nutmegging defenders almost as much as he likes scoring.

Another call up

On Sunday, we drove back from Shawnee so that Emi could participate in another U-14 game. Lots of players who hadn't indicated whether they could attend or not did, in fact, show up, so the roster was deep.

Emi was the first player Coach Rhynes brought in from the bench.



Coach Rhynes had some good advice for Emilio on this throw-in and Emilio listened well.

Season Ten, U-12 Game Ten, Goal Thirty

After finishing a morning basketball game, after a morning U-14 soccer game, we headed to Shawnee for the final game of the season. Our opponent is an undefeated juggernaut that has not been scored on all season. Before the game, I asked the head referee how long the halves were. He told me (35 minutes). He also added that we were going to have a tough time against this team, which won every game it had played by at least 7 goals and won one of them 17-0.
Emi played well and got loose a couple of times.
Seven minutes in, Emi got fouled in the box and took a penalty kick that he delivered with force off the top cross bar. After the game, Emilio pointed out that the top bar on the Shawnee goals are a little lower than the top bar on the goals in Ada. He's right. In Ada, that penalty kick would have been indefensible.

Six minutes later, we are down 1-0 when Emi gets loose on a breakaway. Teammates and Coach Brock start yelling at Emilio to shoot, but Emi has his own plans. He crosses over one defender, and then crosses over another, while the yelling gets more insistent:  "Shoot!  Shoot!"  Emi is calm under pressure, turns the corner one more time, lines up his shot and delivers a stunner: the first goal Shawnee has allowed this season. The score is now tied 1-1, and we immediately hear Luke, the Shawnee goalkeeper, tell his dad, the coach, that he needs a sub.  Those who were yelling at Emilio to shoot before he was ready are silent. That's Emilio's 30th goal of the ten-game season, and probably my favorite of them all.

Though this was his third sporting event of the day and we fell behind the strongest team in the league, Emi played as hard as I've seen him play, as evident in this charge on the goalkeeper.
After the game, Coach Underwood gave Blake some much deserved praise for the energy that he gave the team throughout the season playing box to box from his position at center mid. He also singled out Gage for some stellar work as goalkeeper. Finally, he praised the team for scoring the only goal that the Shawnee Juggernaut had allowed all season. All season, Coach Brock has been urging the team to pass the ball. He is not a fan of dribbling and every game he repeatedly yells "Get it off your foot!" He thanked the team for trusting his advice and improving so much over the course of the season.

After winning our first four, we lost out last four to finish with a 4-4 record. We allowed 34 goals and scored 45. Emi scored 30 and though I don't think Emi's coaches cared much for his game, Emi felt appreciated by his teammates, enjoyed playing with Blake especially, and I am well pleased that we decided to play him in his assigned age group instead of playing with older kids all season.