A couple of weekends ago, Megan and I headed to Yakima, Wa. for a huge soccer tournament. We set off on Friday, just the two of us. We stopped in the Tri cities and did a little shopping on our way down. We also stopped there on our way back home to hit Costco.
What a great time we had. First off, it was HOT!!! We have only been seeing temperatures in the 60's so we where not ready for the upper 80's that weekend.
Megan was supposed to be on the U14 team, but the team didn't end up getting to go. So the U15 team took what girls they could fit. All of our girls are 14 and younger, Megan being the youngest. It was great experience for them. We joked that our girls where so small compared to the other teams.
This tournament is run a lot differently then any other we have been a part of. It is a 5 vs 5, goalies can not kick the ball, no time outs or offsides and 12 minute halves. A horn blows and the ball is dropped on the field. If your team isn't on the field when the horn blows, you lose. There are 15 games going on at the same time and there where no delays. It was fast paced and a lot of fun to watch.
These pictures are of their first game. They did not win but were very close. And yes, she caught this one behind her head.
The level of game play is much higher then the girls are used to. A lot of these teams are club teams that have had the time to prepare for this tournament. Our girls have had to deal with rain and snow and have not being able to practice a lot. They did better then we had expected.
The sign really says it all. Megan was very excited and totally unprepared for this event.
It started 30minutes after her first game. Remember it is hot hot hot. Here she is giving the thumbs up. She is on one end and the other girl on the other. They run to the center to grab the ball and the first one who scores 5 or the highest in 5 minutes wins. The score was 5 to 3 Megan lost. I was so proud of her, the girl she competed against was 16 years old. My baby is 12.
Here she is getting ready to take her shot with her team cheering her on.
I just love the look on her face in this one.
Game #2 of the day and just 45 minutes after goalie wars.
She played both goalie and forward. See her and Avery setting this one up. The girls were both hot and tired. However, they pulled this one out and won. They played together great.
Look at that jump. This is why this short kid can play goalie.
We had a 3 hour break between games. Some of the girls went back to their hotel rooms to cool off but we decided to stay. Megan and a couple of the other girls kept it pretty mellow and laid around. A breeze was starting to come up and it was very relaxing. I spent most of the time giggling at the girls.
Game 3 starts at 5pm and everyone is getting tired. We had been at the fields since 8am that morning. The girls are starting to think about dinner and the pool.
Half time and the other team is starting to pull ahead. The girls are tired and holy cow the other team is huge. How old are these girls? One girl has arms like Anthony.
The girls didn't end up winning. It was a big loss but they were done for the night.
Time for showers, dinner and the swimming pool for Megan.
Everyone is in a much better mood. We all met at one of the hotels for some swimming. The pool was packed but it really was what everyone needed.
Back to the fields by 10:30am Sunday.
Out of 16 teams, the girls were ranked 12th. Today they played the 5th ranked team. Needless to say, they didn't win.
They tried their hardest.
There was some tears, none of them were ready to go home. Megan and I hung around for a little bit so Megan could get an elephant ear and a slushy. She had been really good and watching what she was eating so she didn't get sick. The tournament was over and she was going to get some junk to eat. There is talk of another tournament at the end of June and I really hope they go. It was so much fun. The best part of the whole thing was spending one on one time with Megan. It's not something we get to do often and I will always value the time we got to spend together. I have over 300 pictures to prove it.
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