This video is a perfect example of why you shouldn't kick the ball with your toe because you never know where it is going to go.  Parents don't watch this with your kiddo or they will be even less likely to want to play soccer, especially with you!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hgjIDEUIhI4

Well I think it is safe to say that we could use the practice and since the votes were a majority "yes" we will plan to practice this Thursday at 5:15 at the game fields on Tennyson.  Parents wear your running shoes because we are planning on you participating in hopes that the kiddos will participate more and big bros and sisters are welcome to play for the same reason.  After the game on Saturday that has become our number one goal, that the kids want to play and have fun.  I think at their age we can't expect more much more than that so any ideas from the parents that would help the kids get over their fears or encourage them to play would be much appreciated.  Please feel free to post comments on what we could do to get the kids amped up to play.  Hopefully as the season goes on we won't struggle like we did on Saturday to try to find five kids that won't to be on the field, but instead will struggle with too many kids wanting to play at one time... a girl can dream at least!

The First Practice

Well the first practice was interesting to say the least.  At least none of you will be concerned that I will judge your kiddos if they have meltdowns since mine threw the world's longest tantrum at practice last night!!:)  On that note it would be helpful for me if you have any suggestions about your kids that would make them more likely to feel at ease and participate.  Just shoot me an email if anything comes to mind.

Also I saw quite a few parents taking pictures and I thought it would be really neat to get either action shots or a profile picture of each kid to put on the blog.  I thought they would think it is neat to see themselves online and it would hopefully boost their self esteem.   The action shots would be neat so if the parents that took pictures could email me some good action shots of the kids that would be great.  If each parent could send me a profile picture then would cover any of the ones that we may not have in an action shot.  As the season goes on we can update and make changes.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Roster

                   Player               #     Parents           Phone #    email

Aidan Diaz	3	Amy & Guillermo	214-450- 4035	Amy.morrison13 @yahoo.com
Annika Svedvik	8	Arizbe &Nathan	612-309-0969	Arizbea @hotmail.com
Alberto Svedvik	9	Arizbe &Nathan	612-309-0969	Arizbea @hotmail.com
David Pyle	6	April & Will	214-676-0087	aprilpyle @hotmail.com
Katelyn Oberholtz	5	Vanna	214-336-4275	voberholz@yahoo.com
Keegan Birkenholtz	2	Jen and Brad	214-636-9661	Bradandjen08 @hotmail.com
Lauren Wood	10	Amy and James	512-627-7319	Amywood906 @yahoo.com
Lily Davis	4	Kim	323-228-9092	Kdavis @rehrigpacific.com
Makena Ross	7	Shawna and Stuart	972-292-9817	Shawna.stu @hotmail.com
Sam Belford	1	Johanna and Matt	214-872-2957	Matthewtbelford @gmail.com

Homework for the week of March 5th

The two most difficult things to teach 4 year olds is not to use their hands and not to kick the ball with their toe.   When you are practicing with your kiddo please encourage them not to pick the ball up with their hands unless they are the goalie or throwing the ball in.    You will need to constantly reinforce this because at this age they think with their hands and not with their feet.

Kicking the ball with their toe is a very natural for beginning players and if your child is anything like mine then they will likely argue with you about this.  When they use their toe to kick the ball they have no control over where it will go and so encourage them to kick the ball with their shoelaces like the video below illustrates.   A game that I like to play with my son is basically target practice in the back yard.  I make several "targets" out of a normal sheet of paper and to foster learning I write either a number or letter on it.  We tape them to the fence and practice hitting the targets by kicking our soccer balls at them.  I will call out a letter or a number and he and I both will try to hit it with our ball.  If one of us hits it then we of course have to do an obnoxious celebration like they do on TV when they score a goal which he absolutely loves!  You can also do this same game to practice throw ins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92rY1x0exGI

Uniforms

The Uniforms are ready!  My ultimate goal was to make them as affordable as possible so I had an emblem screened on the front with the mandatory Y logo at the Soccer Center.  I bought iron on numbers for the parents to iron on at home and will give those to you with the uniform.  I have done these and even my husband has for our adult co-ed team and they work great and last a long time.  Or you can have them put one on at the Soccer Corner in Plano.  We are pairing the jerseys with your choice of black shorts and socks.  The cost of the uniform is $12.

Game Schedule and Snack Schedule

Schedule
Snacks	Date	Time	Location	Home	Away
Alberto	Sat 3-10-12	8:30 AM	Field 6 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Geno Pierce	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison
Lily	Sat 3-24-12	12:30 PM	Field 6 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Team 3A-No Coach Yet	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison
Lauren	Sat 3-31-12	9:30 AM	Field 6 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison	Jessi Green Team 2A
Makena	Sat 4-7-12	8:30 AM	Field 7 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Curtis Jones	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison
David	Sat 4-14-12	8:30 AM	Field 7 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison	Bullfrogs
		10:30 AM	Field 6 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison	Giants-TS
Sam	Sat 4-21-12	11:30 AM	Field 6 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Larry Ashbrook Team 1A	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison
Annika	Sat 4-28-12	9:30 AM	Field 7 at 5101 Tennyson Parkway	Jen Birkenholtz/Amy Morrison	Geno Pierce