3v3 Tournaments #2 - #5

Tournament #2 - June 12th in Hendersonville

Rylan has his first tournament with his other 3v3 team (Banditos) in June.  We have 6 boys on this team with 5 of them coming to each tournament.  This time we had Brady, Reeves, Parker, and Caleb with us.

The boys won all 3 of their pool play games.

Which put them in first place in their pool.

And in the gold bracket.  The Banditos won their semi-final game but ended up losing in the championship by one.

Their were tears from most of the team after the game but we got four out of the five to smile with their 2nd place medals.

Tournament #3 - June 26th in Murfreesboro

The next tournament was also with the Banditos.  This time we had Grant, Caleb, Parker, and Reeves.

There were only 6 teams at this tournament and they were generally a stronger set of teams.  The boys won their first game but lost the second two.  They struggled more mentally this tournament.  They stopped passing and working together as they "panicked" when falling behind.

The boys ended up 3rd in their pool of 3 this time around.

And due to the number of teams, they missed getting put into a bracket and only played a consolation game against the 3rd place team in the other pool.

The boys won that game and it was good to finish with a strong game.  And they were happier after this tournament even though they didn't get a medal!

Tournament #4 - July 10th in Bowling Green, KY

Last weekend we were back with the Tri-Star Strikers.  We were supposed to play in a tournament in Columbia with a different organization (Kick It Soccer), but they ended up not getting enough teams to sign up for the tournament and cancelled it a few days beforehand.  While it wasn't ideal for everyone's schedule, the team really wanted to play and decided to do a tournament in Bowling Green with the 3v3 Live organization.

The boys did great and won all three of their pool games.  Again, the competition was tougher than it was at their first tournament, and the team only won two of their games by one goal.

The boys ended up first in their pool.

They played the second place team in the other pool in the semi-final and won that game by one goal again.  The boys then played the same team they played in their second pool game.  The Tri-Star Strikers were up 1-0 at about 5 minutes into the game when the thunderstorms got too close and we went into a lightning delay.  After about 2 hours the games were able to resume.  Unfortunately the boys ended up losing 2-1.  They lost to the same team that the Banditos also lost to in their championship game in Hendersonville.  Both games came down to the other team scoring a goal in the last couple of minutes that was due to a questionable call by the ref.

Ethan was still quite mad about the call and would not smile for the picture.  Again second place is tough when you're so close to being the champions!

Tournament #5 - July 17th in White House

The Banditos played their last tournament of the summer yesterday.  For this tournament, we had Caleb, Brady, Reeves, and Grant.

Unfortunately, storms were forecasted throughout the day.  The rain started just before the boys' second game of the day.  The boys were able to get in their first two games before a 30 minute lightning delay.

The Banditos ended up winning two games and tied the third.

That put them in second place in their pool due to having a lower goal differential than the team that they tied.

While waiting to play in the gold bracket, the rain started back up.  The boys played their semi-final game and lost 7-3.  However, after that game, the sky opened up.  It POURED.  

The tournament director ended up canceling the remaining games and not counting any of the bracket games.  That meant the Banditos ended up in second place for the tournament!

The Tri-Star Strikers are doing a regional-level tournament in two weeks.  We are excited to have one more tournament this summer!!!

3v3 Tournament #1

Rylan is doing several 3v3 soccer tournaments this summer with two different teams we put together (Brian is coaching both teams).  He had is first tournament yesterday down in Columbia with his school friends.  We named this team Tri-Star Strikers (I designed and made the shirts).

Left to Right: Rylan, Ethan, Luc, Davis

We got the boys together three times over the last two weeks to practice and learn the rules of 3v3.  All but Luc play NUSA with Rylan, but we've played indoor with Luc before.  His main sport is hockey but is a great athlete.

The weather yesterday was great for playing a lot of soccer (a little cold for spectators though) - mid-50s, overcast, and breezy.

These boys were IMPRESSIVE.  Brian had a rotation down for getting in the sub every few minutes as the defender and moving the current defender up.  All of these boys are great at all positions and were able to trust one another.  We always had one drop if the defender attacked.  They were just fun to watch.

I didn't take any videos but here is a little photo series.  Rylan has the ball and is about to cross it to Davis.

After passing, Rylan makes a run.

Davis receives the pass ...

And crosses it back to Rylan.

Rylan shoots and GOAL!

There were 7 teams in our age group.  They split the teams into 2 pools and then set up brackets based on the results.

The boys won all 3 of their pool play games!  They "mercy ruled" the first team which was a rec level team.  The second team they played was a really good TSC team with a lot of 2nd and 3rd team players.  We were a little surprised the boys beat them by so much!  And the boys continued their winning streak for game three.

This put them in first place in their pool ...

and placed them in the semi-final of the championship bracket.  The boys continued their winning streak and won in both the semi-final and final!

Champions with some cool new hardware!!!

This group of boys are really awesome.  All great teammates and friends.  It was great to see them succeed against some good competition!

Rylan plays another 3v3 tournament in Hendersonville in two weeks with his other team - the Bandidos!

Yearbook

The tradition continues!  Both Rylan and Gray got on the cover of the yearbook!

Rylan got the FRONT COVER!!!

And Gray got the kindergarten spot on the back cover!

Recent Photos

Rylan had the Pacer Test at school a few weeks back.  It's a running test they do in PE that's kind of hard to explain.  But Rylan got second out of all the 4th grade boys and is on a poster at the entrance to the gym!

We went to the first Nashville Soccer Club game of the season a couple of weekends ago.  They have a mascot this year - Tempo the Coyote (you can kind of see his back in the background).

They are currently limiting capacity at Nissan Stadium to 40% and spreading everyone out.  So our front row sideline seats got moved up to sideline club level seats.  We can't hear the players or really see them individually very well, but they aren't the worst seats (a lot of people were moved up to the 300 level).

We had to sell the tickets for last weekend because Rylan had a soccer tournament.  Carter has a baseball tournament this weekend so we might have to miss the game on Sunday too.

Rylan's team played three games in the tournament last weekend in Goodlettsville.  There first game was Friday night at 7pm.  They tied that game 2-2 when the other team scored a goal in the last minute.  Then they played Saturday morning at 8am.  In the rain.  They lost that game 6-4 but were tied 4-4 with about 5 minutes left (Rylan scored his first goal of the tournament to tie it at 4-4).

Rylan's team won their third game Saturday afternoon 4-0, and Rylan scored two of the goals.  Unfortunately they ended up second in their group and didn't advance to the championship game.

Gray's kindergarten teacher (Ms. Bauer) came to his baseball game on Tuesday evening!  There are four kids from her class on our team and one on the team we played.  The boys were so excited to see her!

L to R: James, Gray, Jack, Cameron, Oakley

We are starting to do a few events again at school.  This week we had the big spring fundraiser - the Derby Run.  We ran it very differently this year - it was in the gym, one class at a time, and no parents attended (other than PTO).  To make it more fun, it was a Glow Run with black lights and glow bracelets.

I helped on the day of Gray's run.  We had a QR scanning system to count laps, and I helped out his group, which included James and Kylie (Gray's girlfriend :) ).

The baseball team (minus Oakley who got sick on the way to school and missed the Derby).

Nationals

Gray is playing on the Nationals this season with Brentwood Ball Club.  The proofs of the team photos just got posted.

The team photo is a composite of individual photos.  Unfortunately a random kid not on our team was added.

Back Row (L to R): Coach Brian, Coach Branson, Coach Stephen

Middle Row (L to R): Jack, Mack, James, Jacob, Ryan, Declan

Front Row (L to R): Brady, Andrew, Oakley, Cameron, Gray, kid we don't know

Fractured Wrist

Carter had an appointment with a sports medicine doctor to get his wrist checked out. I typed up our notes of what happened and will just copy them here before summarizing the appointment.

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Sat, Mar 6th - Initial injury at WMS practice. Fingers of throwing hand hit with foul ball while playing catcher and going down for the block. Pushed back hand making wrist hurt. Played one game for travel team at catcher an hour later but sat out next game that day.

Sun, Mar 7th - Played first inning of travel game as catcher. Sat out the rest of that game and the second game of the day.

Went to Physician Urgent Care. X-ray taken because of the swelling (not a lot, but definitely some - no bruising) and pain. Nothing seen on x-ray but forwarded to radiologist for second opinion. Wrapped wrist with an ace bandage to help minimize movement to prevent pain. When called on Wednesday the office said the report did not have any additional findings.

Mon, Mar 8th & Wed, Mar 10th - Attended WMS practices with minimal participation. Kept wrist wrapped all week and iced in the morning and evening.

Week of Sun, Mar 14th - Sat, Mar 20th - Spring Break. Used wrist some for kayaking but generally rested it all week.

Mon, Mar 22nd - Returned to normal practice and no pain.

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Tues, Mar 30th - Hit palm of throwing hand while playing catcher in Smash game with a pitch from our fastest pitcher. Didn't push back hand the same way but instant pain. Finished out that inning and caught one more before sitting. Iced wrist that evening and took Motrin.

Wed, Mar 31st - Iced wrist in the morning and wore an Ace bandage most of the day at school. Participated in WMS practice in the gym. Was able to do everything in practice with minimal pain until started hitting heavy balls. Hit about 10 balls before the pain was too much and sat out the remainder of practice.

Thurs, April 1st - Today - Sat out all practices and games.

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Brian took him in this morning.  They took x-rays and the doctor figured out the exact location of the pain.

It was determined that Carter has a closed fracture of the distal end of the ulna.  The doctor saw a slight separation in the area where the ulna (the smaller long bone in the lower arm) meets the small bones.  I believe this is connective tissue in the growth plate area. He also used the word sprain when describing the issue.

Carter now gets to wear this removable hard cast for 4 weeks. 

It keeps him from moving his wrist at all but he can take it off to shower.  He is also cleared to play baseball.  This is his throwing hand his throws may look like a catapult chucking a ball since he can't bend his wrist :)  Woodland practice was cancelled today (I think there were at least four kids that were sick and didn't come to school and the coach is worried about either passing something around or if there is a Covid diagnosis, having to quarantine the team).  Brian worked with Carter instead for awhile after school and got him pretty comfortable throwing and hitting with the cast.  Carter updated the coach and hopefully he gets to play in the game tomorrow!

Woodland Baseball - Update 1

Carter played his first JV Woodland Middle School baseball game on Monday.  They played Thompson Station at home. Carter caught the first 5 of 7 innings.  He got only one at bat and hit a grounder to third (unfortunately he was out at first). The team lost the game 9-2, but they had some great plays in the field. Carter caught awesome with a bunch of great blocks. He only had one passed ball all night.

The JV team played again last night (Tuesday) at home against Freedom Middle School. They lost 8-2 but had kept it close for a while with a score of 1-1 through the third. They struggled with pitching and hitting but, again, had some great plays in the field, including a couple of double plays.  Carter caught all 6 innings with the struggling pitchers making him work hard with a ton of blocks.  Again, he only had one passed ball the whole night, and he threw out a runner trying to steal third. He got two at bats - one strikeout and one ground out to third.

After the game last night Carter had to go play a game for Smash, his travel team. He started the game off catching for our fastest pitcher.  He was exhausted by the end of the night.

The boys have to dress up on game days (slacks and a tie).

I'm scoring the JV games so I haven't been able to take pictures, but I got one of Carter warming up Drew before the game started on Monday.

The JV team plays again tomorrow at Brentwood Middle School.

Georgia Trip - Day 1

This year we traveled to Georgia for Spring Break.  The plan was to kayak, hike, and camp for the week.  We started the trip on Saturday, March 13th but had to cut it a little short to get back for Rylan's soccer tournament the next weekend.

We started the long drive down to Stephen C. Foster State Park in the rain but it cleared up quickly.  

We got unlucky this trip and hit a lot of construction and accidents that slowed us down.  We finally got to the park around 6:30 pm (Eastern).  We quickly set up our tent before it got too dark and then made dinner on the campstove in the dark (hot dogs and macaroni & cheese).  We also quickly remembered the one item we've been meaning to buy for car camping and had forgotten about - a screen tent.  The mosquitos near the swamp were monsters!  We got a lot of bites but not as many as you'd expect with the amount of mosquitos.

After dinner we walked down to the small marina area where there were less lights.  Saturday was a new moon and with the park being in the middle of nowhere, the stars were amazing.  Unfortunately I don't have a great lens for star pictures but I had brought my tripod and got a few "not horrible" pictures.

The Big Dipper:

We heard a lot of noises along the water's edge while hanging out looking at stars that we figured were frogs.  The next morning we started to question if they were frogs or alligators!

We eventually headed back to the campsite for our first of four nights at Stephen C. Foster.