Today marked Josh's first ever organized athletic event as he played in his Braddock Road Youth Club (BRYC) U5 soccer league. The DinoDragons (his team name) were playing their second game of the season. Josh had missed game one during last weekend's trip to New Jersey to visit my in-laws. Since I love sports and love competition in general, this milestone in Josh's young life meant a lot to me. In the U5 division, teams split into two adjoining fields and play two games of 3 on 3 soccer with no goalies and 16 minute halves. There are no referees and the score is not kept resulting in no wins or losses and no league standings sheet. 
With my appetite for competition, it'll be hard for me to get through a season of games with no wins/losses but i fully realize that 4 and 5 year olds are not ready for those types of performance measures at this stage of life. Although I know my competitive nature has rub off on Josh whether I like it or not. Throughout the game he would ask me who was winning and what the score was. Overall the game(s) today were a success for the DinoDragons. Josh's half of the team played solid and both defended and scored well. Trying to be as impartial as possible though I really do believe Josh is the star of our team. He scored the first overall goal of the game and went on to score 5 total goals before the 4th quarter started. The coach kept him out for most of the 4th though (i think we wanted to make sure others got valuable practice time). Josh was running up and down the field and really making the most of his kicks. At times he kept looking to the on-field assistant coach for direction (as did all the other kids) and I'm sure he'll get used to the flow of the game as the season goes along, but for game one he was nothing short of amazing out there. A particularly amusing moment was when he scored his second goal then turned and ran back to the middle of the field holding up two fingers and smiling at me. No matter how young, you can't take the competitive spirit out of a Rose boy.
The best part of the experience was his reaction to the game. Every time he came over for a water break he would say "this is fun, DAD!" And at halftime he took a quick sip of water and ran back out onto the field by himself with no one else there, ready to start playing again. I had to make him sit down next to me and really take a normal halftime break. Alex seemed to enjoy watching Josh and helped out with a few "Go Josh, Go Josh" chants and occasionally running across the white sideline into the field of play. Unfortunately, Lori had to teach a cardio class in the morning and only got to the field for the 4th quarter (missing Josh's goal explosion). I'm sure we'll all be able to attend a full game later in the season.One last picture of Josh wearing his #2 jersey. Too bad he has to share a number with Derek Jeter.
