Scotland Soccer

 After years of watching her big brothers play sports, it was finally Adley's turn to play this spring. We signed her up for a soccer league with two of her good friends from school. Adley was so excited to play! She didn't have any qualms about marching into her first practice.

Adley with her two preschool buddies, Selah and JoJo

Here is a ball control drill her team did during the first practice. Adley sure made a LOT of strides throughout the season!

What a treat it was to play with these two sweet girls all season!

Adley was put on Team Scotland. She loved her uniform that resembled the Scotland flag. She also got to pick her own number. She decided on 4 since that's how old she was when the season first started.

At Adley's first couple games, we'd often see her doing this-- hanging back just beyond the cluster of girls with the ball and doing a lot of excited hopping. ;)

Adley quickly developed her confidence with the ball, however. We loved seeing her get in on the action--dribbling the ball a bit down the field or, her favorite, booting the ball out of the way!

Look at that power kick!

Adley was a very eager competitor. Every time her coach was ready to sub in players, Adley would be the first to jump up and ask to play again. She was a focused player, having a good awareness of where the ball was and of what her opponents were doing. She wasn't afraid to approach the ball and made great strides in her ball control when kicking and dribbling. Over the course of the 8-game season, Adley made 4 goals. Woo-hoo, number 4!!

Adley's favorite position was playing "defender," which was essentially the team goalie. She was very attentive at this position and stopped quite a few goals!

We were so proud of our little soccer player!

After Adley's last season game, her wonderful Coach Josh gave a little speech about the entire Scotland team...

and then handed out trophies to each of the girls.

At Adley's age level, the league didn't really keep track of the game score. Adley, however, always asked her coach after the game, "Did we win?!" Team Scotland definitely improved as the season went on and unofficially "won" at least half of their games. Goooo, Scotland!

Mackenzie, Hallie, JoJo, Caroline, Allie, Hudson, Adley, Selah

Team Scotland with Coach Josh

Adley was so proud to get her very first trophy!

It was so fun to watch Adley learn and grow as an athlete this season. We were thankful for her caring coach and the opportunity to play with friends. What a great first season!