Soccer Season Highlights

Jantzen enjoyed playing "real soccer" again this fall after the interesting summer rec stint.

 The boys were invited to scrimmage during half-time at a varsity high school game.

Jantzen - in blue jersey

 Playing under the big lights, hearing your name over the loud speaker, cheering crowds - the makings of a fun evening for Jantzen's team.

 The majority of players on Jantzen's team are in the 7th grade. 

There is one 8th grader and two 6th graders (including Jantzen).

 

 They consistently played "up" against U-14 teams.  The size difference between the 9th graders and 6th graders was significant at times but amazingly, the smaller, scrappy players held their own.

It has been an exciting season for this group of boys as they managed to remain undefeated.  At the end of the regular season, they were ranked first going into the championship tournament week.  The games were intense and there were more than a few people pacing on the sidelines.  Observing the behavior of a coach from the opposing team after our victory at the championship game was rather startling.  Coach Fullmer and Coach Christensen have been Jantzen's coaches for a few years now and we have always appreciated their low-key, balanced approach to the sport.  In fact, it's actually miraculous our team won the Junior High S.E.I. Championship considering the fact the team only practiced once a week.

Jantzen usually plays mid-fielder and sometimes forward.  He has enjoyed playing with such a talented group of boys.  They play clean, genuinely support each other and have fun.  How refreshing!

With Aaron's busy October travel schedule, we were so thrilled he was able to attend the final championship game.  Congrats Jantzen!