Stony Point vs Bowie Scrimmage

While Brad's first time on the Stony Point field was playing with Varsity, he still remains a member of the JV Team. Friday, the JV team had their first game vs. Bowie.

It was a super cold and windy day. I think the temp was about 47 as we sat and watched the game with blankets wrapped around us.

Unfortunately, Stony Point didn't come away with a win. Brad's team lost 1-3 against the Bowie JV team. They had it tied up in early in the 2nd half. But an off sides (not called) goal and a deflection in to our goal helped Bowie secure the win.

Brad had some solid saves despite the loss. I'm looking forward to seeing his high school team play this season!

A photo posted by Stephanie Wadas (@stefwadas) on Dec 31, 2016 at 1:38pm PST

A photo posted by Stephanie Wadas (@stefwadas) on Dec 31, 2016 at 1:40pm PST

High School Soccer Debut

While Brad has been practicing with his high school soccer team for the most part of this school year (thanks to his soccer class) the pre-season games have just started.

On Wednesday, Brad was planning on attending the Varsity vs. Alumni game to show support. Half way through the day I got a call from the Varsity head coach asking if Brad could suit up for the Alumni game. Apparently one of the Varsity keepers didn't make grades and they want Brad to fill in for him for the Alumni Game and two upcoming tournaments.

Brad was pumped...and a little nervous. I was terrified! He's not just a Freshman...he's a young Freshman playing against college (or older) age men. But, I thought to myself, what are the chances that he'll get any playing time. I mean they still had their other keeper. They'd probably just use Brad in emergency situations.

Well he got playing time. He played 20 minutes in the 2nd half.  When he got up from the bench, I turned to Rob and asked him "What is he doing?" Rob calmly replied that he's getting warmed up to go in the game. I wasn't as calm. Even when Brad ran on to the field and took his position in the box.

A video posted by Stephanie Wadas (@stefwadas) on Dec 28, 2016 at 6:56pm PST

A video posted by Stephanie Wadas (@stefwadas) on Dec 28, 2016 at 6:43pm PST

Brad held his own against the alumni and only conceded one goal in the last 30 seconds of the game. Proud of that boy!

Game Highlights: Game vs. KSA14 2002

September 10th the boys played KSA14 2002. This was our first season game of the Fall. We ended up losing the actual game. However, later we found out that the team was DQ'd due to an ineligible player playing for them during the game. So our team defaulted to a win.


Brad's Stats:

• Saves: 5
• Goal Kicks: 6
• Punts: 11
• Throws: 2
• Goals Against: 1

Austin Labor Day Tournament 2016

September 3rd & 4th Brad's Lonestar Team played in the Austin Labor Day Tournament

The first game against FC Dallas 02B Blue ended in a 2-2 draw. After the first game, the team had a group lunch at Mellow Mushroom.

• Saves: 9
• Goal Kicks: 6

The second game vs. Albion Hurricane 02B B ended in a 5-0 loss.

• Saves 11
• Goal Kicks 6

The third game on September 4th against another Albion Hurricane team ended in a 9-0 loss. Unfortunately, Brad got kicked in the face in the 1st half and we had to take him to Urgent Care. It was unfortunate that not only their players & coach displayed unsportsmanlike conduct but the parents talked trash about Brad getting kicked in the face and made disrespectful comments. It is really a reflection on the Albion Hurricane soccer organization when their coach leads by example by encouraging his players to injure smaller players and not hold his team accountable for their actions. After we got home from Urgent Care, I was still super upset. Not so much that B got injured. That can happen in a game. But that the Albion Hurricane player intentionally did it and his coach encouraged it. After checking out their "mission" - I had a laugh. Because it's obvious they don't coach to it, hold their players to the expectations, or their parents.

A fun part of the weekend is because there were so many teams from all over Texas playing in this tournament, we were able to see some of our friends from our Europe trip!

Day 3: Football, football, football (7/26/2016)

Tuesday was all about football (aka soccer).

After breakfast we headed over to a local school for some pro-training by Manchester City-licensed coaches. The training was fantastic. The quality of the training was fantastic & the boys seemed energized and enthusiastic.

After the 2+ hour training, the boys changed and we headed over to Manchester. Half of the team headed to tour the Manchester United stadium while the other half toured Manchester City. We went traditional and toured Manchester United.

We had our small group (13 people - including parents and kids) and got the grand tour of the stadium. We started off exploring the museum where the boys were able to check out trophies, old jerseys, news articles, and more

After exploring the museum we headed down to start the tour. We got to see the stadium, the pitch, the locker rooms, the VIP suites, and the press room. The history around that stadium was fascinating and the boys seemed to love the experience.

We learned that the grass on the pitch is made up of 3% synthetic grass woven in with natural grass to make it stronger and limit the damage to the field from the games. When we walked in to the stands there was a heavy scent of garlic. Almost like the kitchen from their cafe was close by and they were cooking Italian food. What we learned was they were spraying the field with garlic to get rid of bugs. I never knew garlic was a bug deterrent!

The "locker room" wasn't really a locker room...but more of a big room with a bench going around the perimeter and hooks on the wall.

A funny story about the above full length mirror. Originally the mirror was really a much smaller mirror (maybe a 1/3 of the size shown above). But a certain former player of Manchester United wanted a FULL LENGTH mirror so he could see his full body. Can you guess which former player requested this? It was Cristiano Rinaldo! They kept the mirror and now refer to it as Rinaldo's mirror even after he left.

Brad specifically asked to have his photo taken in the Away seats for the players since he is a Chelsea fan (not really Manchester United).

After dinner, the boys had another short training then headed to bed while the parents gathered in the hotel bar for some laughs. It was a great day!

To check out more photos on our 3rd day, check out the full photo album HERE.

Day 2: Shakespeare in Love (7/25/2016)

We landed in England this morning at 6am! YAY! An even bigger YAY is we were the first flight to land at Heathrow so we had ZERO wait at customs.

Our group (parents and players) with our tour director, John.

After a bit of a wait for one of the boy's dad who was flying in from Indonesia, we started our route to Cheshire.

This (motion) photo does not do the English Countryside justice. Simply gorgeous.

First off - let me say how fantastic our tour director is...He is FANTASTIC! This team has had him in the past and I can see why parents and kids alike love this guy. John is a Scotsman who lives in England. He has such an incredible amount of knowledge that the smallest things are so interesting to hear from him.

...Like the fact there is a bird of pray called a Red Kite that is near extinction. A group bred the bird and released 40 in to an area we passed through to help build the numbers back up. We ended up seeing one flying around a group of trees.

...Or like the fact that while Shakespeare's dad was a glove maker, he was also quite the deviant. He made a lot of money underhand by elicit trading of wool.

We visited Cottswold (hope I spelled that correct). We drove through Woodstock. These towns along the English countryside are beautiful. I love seeing everyone walking everywhere, the architecture, everything.

We learned that the Americans stole the term "Sheriff" from the English. The term comes from two English words put together. The word "shire" means a county (in American terms) while the word "reeve" (I'm pretty sure I'm butchering the spelling) refers to a person who is in charge of an area. "Shire" "reeve" = "sheriff"

We had a few hours to explore the beautiful town of Stratford-upon-Avon which is Shakespeare's birth place. We had lunch at the oldest pub in Stratford called The Garrick Inn. Rob had a meat pie (he asked the server to pick for him) and I had the English equivalent of a baked potato.

 

 

The birthplace of Shakespeare

I really wish we would have had more time to explore this wonderful little town and all the fascinating aspects of it. Hopefully we can "next time."

We arrived at our hotel (Cranage Hall) around 5pm. The boys immediately got changed and reported to the soccer field (aka football pitch) to have some training before dinner. It started pouring on them, but they seemed to have a lot of fun and the activity brought them out of their zombie-like zones they were in from little sleep and exhaustion.

If you look really carefully over the trees, you'll see a rainbow!

More tomorrow. For now, I'm off to bed after 36+ hours traveling with little sleep!

If you would like to see more photos from our first day in England, check out the full photo album HERE.

Summer Craziness

Well...there went June!

Brad's really enjoyed the down time of summer. Mostly the no school part!

In early June, the team he will be traveling with to England & Ireland had their first practice & get together.

US Rev Team bonding

Brad out of the goal and playing defense

Unfortunately, it resulted in a trip to Urgent Care after the 2nd day. By the end of the day, Brad was having a hard time walking. His heel had started really hurting and he couldn't walk without limping substantially.

NOT a happy camper

Unfortunately, he had to wear a boot for about a week and a half. Fortunately, of all the diagnosis it could have been, it was something easily treatable with some PT and lots of ongoing stretching.

Learning how to properly stretch at PT

With the green light from the doctor and physical therapist, Brad was eager to get back to training and working out at MAD Training. He attended the 2nd training session for his Ireland trip and luckily had minimal pain. He's gotten good at the stretching and listening to his body if he starts to feel any sort of pain.

Brad in Goal during the 2nd US Revolution Training Camp

Before the boot came off, he was still finding ways to stay fit!

We have about 3-4 weeks until we head out on our trip. Crazy how time flies!

We have a Freshman in the House!

We have a freshman in the house! I can't believe it. So many mixed emotions. Sad time is going by so quickly. Excited for the possibilities that are ahead for B. Proud of the young man he is becoming.

1st and Last Day of 8th Grade!

My Freshman!

8th Grade Formal

What an adorable couple!

B took his date, Kelly, to 8th Grade formal last weekend. It sounds like they had a great time.

Before formal was a different story. You see, we mistakenly decided not to practice tying his bow tie until 15 minutes before we needed to go. Look at the excitement on this 13 year old's face!

Thanks to YouTube were were able to accomplish the mission. But not without some frustration.

disregard the messy bathroom!

In the end, we were able to pick up Kelly on time and take a few photos before dropping them off for a night of fun and dancing.