On an Island, Where We'll Meet

June 28, 2024

Spring Soccer - Finley #7

Finn's soccer season was a great success. It wasn't without drama, but the drama came in our decision to move Finn to a different city for soccer. At the end of the fall 2023 season he wrapped up playing with his Dynamo team. We tried hard to keep him in Marshall county because that is just easiest for our family, but the club kept making changes every season. And just as nothing was consistent for Keagan when he played Dynamo, we were seeing the same trend with Finn. He didn't want to play anymore and during the very last game of the season he was invited to play indoor soccer with a group based out of Mayfield that included some Marshall boys as well. After indoor proved to be a good fit and the boys got along well, a new team was established and an awesome new coach came along for the ride. We made the difficult decision to move him to the Kentucky Elite team, knowing that the grass may not be greener on the other side but we were willing to give it a try. The uniforms are definitely greener! (green is my favorite color too!) Finn didn't get to pick his jersey number because everyone's jerseys were borrowed or from past seasons, but he didn't mind. He ended up with #7. Finn's team brought home a lot of hardware despite essentially being a brand new team. And my two criteria for being involved in sports were met: Finn was having fun and he was growing in his skills. Finn started out in a left wing (scoring) position and contributed many goals with a solid left foot! His team is heavy with kids who can score but only had 3 solid defenders so Finn would score a goal and be rotated out. He struggled with this at first, feeling like he was doing something wrong or not get enough play time. We reminded him that being on this team (which required kids to actually try out or be invited) meant he was playing alongside higher level kids and he needed to be happy with the playtime he got, scoring a goal and then being benched allowed another awesome kid to come in and do the same. He understood, but at the end of the season he was asked to play in the left back (defense) position and he rocked it!! And he played every game for its entirety from then on out. His coach told him that for him to be able to play well in both a scorer and defender position would make him a beast in high school.

Finn trying on his new uniform!

sideline siblings

if you cannot tell by his smile - they won!

these boys won their first organized game with their new coach!

Elite Mamas at a tournament in Memphis, TN

team prayer and mini devotional before playing

I am very thankful for another mama who takes better pictures than I ever could!

this tournament was absolutely downright freezing. maybe not 32degrees, but barely 40 for sure. and the wind....misery.

Finn waiting to be subbed on..

he may not look like he's listening, but he is! Finn's growth and acceptance of what the coaches advised grew so much this season. It was lovely to see our boy being poured into.

another W! But hard-fought and these boys are tired.

sideline siblings getting to enjoy the hotel pool at one of our

hotel pools are the highlight of tournament weekends - this was a big tournament so everyone else had the same idea!

Makenzie (Braden's sister), Ivy, and Emily (Jonny's sister)

Finn's first gold medal! These boys won their first tournament together.

you think he's proud?

Finn and Coach Will

Daddy had to work and Maclyn had her own soccer game - so they stayed back the weekend of our Memphis tournament

Tuck and Finn

a proud team

Onto the next tournament in Elizabethtown, KY - Finn asked me to paint my nails in team colors. Done.

warming up with the team

another W - and probably the sweetest picture of my growing boy

earned himself a UFC prime from the hotel

we had to leave Keagan (who had a school dance) and Ivy (who had her own soccer game) back home this time so Maclyn got to enjoy the hotel bed! It's the little things...

another gold around his neck!

a team trophy!!

Javanon Cup (Elizabethtown, KY) champion!

Finn and Jayden - field twins! They are super hard to tell apart during a game

Tuck, Finn, Brayden (all Marshall boys)

another weekend - another tournament. this time in Evansville, IN. And another cold, windy weekend. Finn is being goofy during warm-ups. I didn't get any pictures from the weekend because it was too cold to take my fingers out of my gloves.

these boys didn't win Gold this weekend - but they did come in 2nd place!

Finn was kind of sour about not winning Gold - but I reminded him that a loss exposes where you need to improve so next time you can win!

Gamma and Poppy came and watched!

I don't have to tell anyone we had a soccer tournament, but there will be signs...

another weekend away - Saturday play day in Nashville. our boys lost both of these games! that was kind of a bummer but they looked to have forgotten how to play. You win some, you lose some.

After their Saturday games in Nashville, the team and families went to the pro soccer game! It was a blast!

the girls' first professional soccer game! they loved it and actually watched!

after the game, our team got to walk out on the field and get a team picture

Our final soccer tournament was in Clarksville - on Mother's Day weekend. I couldn't do this soccer thing without this lady right here! This is Amber, she is Tuck's mama. Also, her older boy is Nick who plays on Keagan's team. Both of our boys had games this weekend so we were back and forth watching them play. It takes a village and Amber is a huge part of ours.

oh! one of our games in Clarksville was against a team from Nashville and one of the boys just happened to be Reese Witherspoon's son. That's her in the hat. No big deal - Ivy wanted to per her puppy dog so she just walked right up and asked her to pet the pup. Of course she said yes!