The Black Dragons

Practicing the kickoff

See how serious he is?

I think he might be a better football or hockey player

he's all about tackling and wrestling right now

Dylan and Trevor bonding while they sit the quarter out

Chasing the ball

Dylan played his first soccer game as a "Black Dragon" today.  Let me just tell you, it was pretty entertaining to watch.  They play 3 on 3 so there are six little boys who all chase the ball in the same tiny little area.  They play 5 minute quarters and have 5 kids on a team so each kid sits out 1-2 quarters a game.  They are so funny to watch.  Dylan loves going to soccer, but took the whole game very seriously.  First, he automatically decides the other team is the enemy that they are fighting against so rather than focusing on the ball, he was playing defense against them most of the time.  He also takes their team name rather literally and flaps his arms as he runs around chasing the ball (or other players) like a dragon.  They have a really good boy on their team and thanks to little Trevor they won the game.  Dylan's actually pretty good, but keeping his focus on the ball and running was a bit difficult.  I'm not exactly sure how to work on that.  His coach is so good with them though.  He keeps it simple by telling them to get to the ball the fastest and keep running, reminding them which way their goal is and telling them to freeze whenever the ball has gone out of bounds.  It helps to have very few rules since they seem plenty overwhelmed with just learning the basics.  The other team kept catching the ball with their hands so I'm guessing there's just a learning curve they go through the first few years.  Anyway, it was pretty fun to watch.  We'll see how he does.  Although he seems to like it, his obsession for animals and dinosaurs makes me wonder if we should have enrolled him in a "junior zoologists" school or something.  Or maybe paleontology.  The best part for me is watching how cute he is with the members of his team.  They're already bonding and getting to be little buddies.  He is so protective of all of them and was more concerned with looking out for each of them than remembering to look for the ball.  He's all about the team camaraderie.  I guess that's a good skill in and of itself.  So we'll see how the next game plays out.  Hopefully he can score a goal at some point.  Once he decides he is good at something, there's nothing that will stop that kid.  It's getting him past the point of frustration that is difficult.  Apparently patience is not a skill any of the members of the family have been blessed with.  Something to work on!