Ten. It's A Magic Number

Kyle leading the offensive rush . . .

Forget three. My five-year old son’s new magic number is ten.

Yesterday, Kyle had his final soccer game of the season. (On Wednesday, there is a scrimmage for all of the five-year olds before they receive their trophies.) His green team – which they named the Eagles, God help them – played the yellow team. Before the game they were 6-1, after a heartbreaking loss the Sunday before. Being the quintessential kid, Kyle couldn’t care less about the frigid temperatures. He just wanted to play.

As soon as the game started, we knew it would be a decent match-up. No team had the upper hand for the first few minutes, until Kyle took a pass in his zone and ran the length of the field. He kicked the ball into the goalie’s legs, then grabbed his own rebound, and tucked it in for the score. Kyle, 1 – Yellow Team, 0.

After the half, Kyle started the play with a break up the field. He dodged one defenseman, and kicked the ball past the goaltender for his second goal of the game. Kyle, 2 – Yellow Team, 0. It was Kyle’s tenth goal of the season, and he celebrated in his usual way; by sprinting down to the other end of the field and giving me a thumbs-up.

Kyle’s team won the game by a score of 2-0, and they finished the season with a record of 7-1. Unbelievably, they took second place in the standings, since the black team went undefeated. I was proud of Kyle not because of the ten goals – although that was pretty cool – but because he played terrific defense during the season, and most of all, because he had fun.

Kyle’s next I-wanna-play-it sport, basketball, starts in four weeks.

And celebrating his second goal (center).