Game on!

It was as if Sydney was so excited to play her first soccer game, that she forgot she was supposed to actually play soccer. She was 100 percent engaged. I'll give her that. She just didn't seem to realize she was supposed to try and kick the ball.

She was having too much fun skipping, bouncing and running along, getting a close up view of the action.

Up and down the field she went with tremendous enthusiasm.

But for most of the game, the only time she touched the ball was when she got to throw it in. She really liked that part. Never mind that the first time the ref handed her the ball, she promptly turned 90 degrees and threw it out of bounds.

She got the hang of it the second time.

It's all good.

In the second half, she finally kicked the ball. Sort of. More accurately it bounced off her leg. Didn't phase her a bit. She just kept happily skipping and bouncing and running along.

Every so often the coach would step in with helpful hints. Which goal do we want to score in? That one!

Sydney is a great cheerleader for her team. As she runs, she'll shout encouragement, "Let's go guys!"

Though her best comment came right after the other team kicked off. As she retreated to her net, Sydney shouted, as if announcing an alien invasion, "THEY'RE COMING!"

And then finally, with just a few minutes to go in the game, Sydney kicked the ball. On purpose. And she followed it up by kicking it again.

It didn't really go anywhere, but you've got to start somewhere. And with her energy and enthusiasm, once she learns to focus it on playing, she'll be unstoppable.

*****

On a side note, this was a classic example of the difference between my kids' personalities. When Sydney heard she was going to play her first game Monday, she responded with a horrified expression. "But we've only had one practice!" AJ, meanwhile, had soccer practice Monday night and whined, "Why do we have to have practice? I just want to play in games."