A Valiant Effort

I know I say it after every game, but I truly love watching Wonder Boy on the soccer pitch. In seasons past, he has shined at practice but then been much more reserved at game time. This season, his confidence has turned a corner and it is showing on game day as well as on the practice field. And with this added confidence has come a shift in his field assignment. Now that his faith in his own skills - especially his passing and dribbling - is showing, Wonder Boy has been moved primarily to a left wing position. Sometimes he shifts to a center midfield position, but most of the time you will find him bringing up the left front.



One of the great aspects of this field assignment is that he is often in the thick of the action on the field! And when he makes his patented sneaky pass right into the middle of the field, perfectly at his teammate's feet as they crash into the box .... well, we can hardly contain ourselves!

Week 4's game was a tough one for Wonder Boy. A few minutes into the 2nd half, he caught a low spot on the field and twisted his ankle. We didn't see it happen, but we definitely saw him slow down. When there was a break in the action, we managed to get his attention and inquire about the problem. And soon after, we got the coach to pull him for a few minutes so that we could slip on a compression sleeve to help him out a bit. I feared this would not be enough and that he would not be able to enjoy the rest of the game, but Wonder Boy came through with a truly valiant effort. He ran and played hard, just as if he had never been injured in the first place. There were moments we could tell he was still hurting, but he never let up!

He always makes us proud, but there are moments (like this game) where he takes it to a new level. You just gotta love THAT!



Next weekend has a double-header on the schedule. Here's to hoping for a break in the weather and a wish for unseasonably cool temperatures so the boys don't wilt in the already building Texas heat.