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!

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 8: Final Day of Dublin Cup & Off to Limerick (7/31/2016)

Day three of The Dublin Cup included playing our last game as a team in the tournament. The team we were originally supposed to play ended up forfeiting the game. So an older team from Iverness Caledonian stepped up to give us someone to play against. There were actually three goal keepers on our team. The third keeper, who had been playing field this whole time and had yet to actually play keeper this trip, played in the second half. Brad ended up playing the field - which he had not done in a long time! We lost the game but the experience was good for the boys.

US Revolution - The Dublin Cup

Final Game as a Team

Brad Playing on the Field

Brad Playing on the Field

Game vs Iverness Caledonian

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

US Revolution and Iverness Caledonian (Scotland)

The kids had a special request to have the parents take a photo together and even "dab." It was quite funny!

The US Revolution Parents (and coach)

The Parents Attempting to "Dab" HA HA HA!

After the game we hopped back in the coach and headed towards the West coast of Ireland in Limerick. On our way we made a pitstop in the unlikeliest of places...Barack Obama Plaza!

Brad at Barack Obama Plaza in Ireland

The ride to our next destination was absolutely beautiful! So green!

Our next hotel was The Inn at Dromoland - which is on the same grounds as the Dromoland Castle. The grounds of this hotel were absolutely gorgeous. The Inn even had a small foot golf course which the boys had a blast with!

Dromoland Castle

The Team in Front of Dromoland Castle (photo taken 8/2/2016)

After dinner the boys went to go play some more foot golf and soccer tennis while the parents enjoyed a drink in the hotel pub called Shenanigans. Speaking of shenanigans...throughout the trip, the coach would leave his glasses places. After dinner, we found his glasses unattended and decided to have some fun. We kidnapped the glasses and took pictures via Snapchat throughout the hotel sending him photos of hints as to where his glasses were. It was quite fun...

For more photos of our day on 7/31, please check out the full photo album HERE.

Day 7: Dublin Cup + International Champions Cup (7/30/2016)

July 30th was all about soccer/football. The morning and afternoon was filled with two games the boys played in The Dublin Cup and then the kids and parents attended a match for the International Champions Cup (Celtic vs. Barcelona).

DUBLIN CUP, DAY 2

The first game of Day 2 in the Dublin Cup was against a Scottish team named Iverness Caledonian. It was an exciting game - but unfortunately we lost with a final score of 4-2. We found out, after the game, that the opposing team's top scorer was actually from their older team that was playing in a different bracket and that type of activity is common in this tournament. It would have been great to see what our team could have done without the other team playing with the older player. Brad played in the first half and had a good game.

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

US Revolution (USA) & Iverness Caledonian (Scotland)

In between games we relaxed a bit and had some lunch. On our way out to the second game of the day, Brad got to chatting with some players from an Irish team named Wexford Schoolboys. They were hilarious. They quizzed Brad on everything from if he would vote for Donald Trump to what state he lives in, to who is favorite team is.

Brad and some players from the Wexford Schoolboys

The boys relaxing at lunch.

The second game of Day 2 was against an Irish team named Douglass Hall. Unfortunately, this game resulted in a 5-0 loss. Brad played in the first half and had a pretty good game. Both games on 7/30 were a bit challenging from a parenting perspective and from Brad's perspective as well. Some decisions were made by the head coach that neither Rob or I felt comfortable with. Brad also felt some discomfort since the coaching decisions impacted the relationship he had with one of his teammates. It was very difficult to watch as a parent. We're chalking it up as a learning experience. We as parents (and B as a player) won't always agree with the decisions coaches make. We can only control how we react in those situations and do our best to act with integrity.

Game vs. Douglass Hall

Game vs. Douglass Hall

Game vs. Douglass Hall

US Revolution (USA) and Douglass Hall (Ireland)

Brad & Mario (US Revolution GKs) and the Douglass Hall GK

INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUP - Celtic vs. Barcelona

After the two Dublin Cup games, we headed to the BIG game of the day - - Celtic vs. Barcelona. The boys were excited to see a professional match and some big name players like Messi and Suarez. The coach dropped us off several blocks from the Aviva stadium and we got to walk with some of the passionate Celtic fans while they sang their songs and chants. The atmosphere was incredible!

The team in front of Aviva Stadium

Some of the boys at Aviva Stadium

The team (and parents) watching the match.

Celtic vs. Barcelona

Team Wadas at Aviva Stadium

After the match, we walked back to the coach. On our walk we had an incident that was quite terrifying. Some of the parents and the coach were in front of our group and some of the parents were towards the back to ensure that we didn't have any straggler boys. We were walking on the left side of a closed down street. The boys were on the sidewalk. I was walking just off the sidewalk in the street with another parent while Rob was walking just in back of me. In front of us we had two boys and Bradley. I was looking to my right when we heard a very loud BANG. I turn to my left and see the closest boy to me on the ground with another parent rushing over to him. The boy that was between the one on the ground and Brad had run away from the smoke that was now filling up the side walk and Brad was in shock standing still. Rob runs in to the smoke and grabs Brad while the rest of us try to get the kids away from the sidewalk. It sounded like a gun shot but with the smoke we weren't sure what was happening. The first thought in many of our heads (that were close to this explosion) were "it's a bomb" - so we were thinking "get as far away from it as possible in case something else happens. The boy who fell to the ground turned out to be fine. He regained his hearing after a while. We found out that a fan had thrown a firework/smoke bomb in to our group of children. That first minute after the bang was the most terrifying in my life. It turns out that if you were further away and watching this from a distance, you could tell what it was. But for those of us who were close, it didn't seem like a smoke bomb or firework. We got the boys back to the coach and got back to the hotel for some dinner and rest.

For more photos of our activities on July 30th, check out the photo album HERE.