Days with the Dorans

Well, Ali had probably her last season with the Sharknados. It has been quite the ride for sure. I didn't take many pictures (it's hard on that big field) but it has been great seeing her play with these girls and coaches! Most of the team is graduating and the spring gets a bit nutty. Yay to Nana who snapped this picture. Similarly I was awful at taking pictures of Sean. I can't even tell you which kid he is in the picture! I just remember sitting up on the hill watching him and texting the others since Jeff was on Ali duty and I was with Seany. He is a blast to watch though! I think Covid has had an effect on my picture taking. I need to do better! I also need to add that Zach opted not to try out for soccer at WLN and his coaches didn't take a team in the fall because of the high school soccer season.

Though Zach doesn't play for the Jags anymore, I feel like this team is better! They play so well together and have beaten travel teams! They won the championship which was exciting! Some of the players on his team I had in class which makes watching them extra fun. I can't believe that they are heading to HS next year. I think that this may be Zach's last soccer season but time will tell. Ali is still playing in high school and this is such a fun rec group! The Sharknados will always have a place in my heart!  

Masks are on and soccer is back!

It's Indoor Soccer Season and we've been spending our weekends watching two of our favorite soccer players. It's crazy because sometimes Ali will have games that start at 10:30 getting us home at midnight. It's crazy, but she is older now I guess.  Zach is playing for the same coach again and boy are those guys good. They are so fun to watch and went undefeated! The only time they didn't win~ they tied and it was against themselves... The outdoor team was bigger so they split it up to make two indoor teams! Zach did score on the shoot out too. HERE are some highlights of him playing. Ali is fun to watch too but the team in general can be a bit painful to watch. Unlike Z's team who won every game, Ali's team has lost every game. Some were better than others but I know it's hard for our competitive girl. Many of the teams are the high school teams or club teams that have played together for a long time. Ali has decided not to go out for the soc...

I love watching Ali Jane play! She had a great season and I feel like the team is getting better despite not really practicing much with all their nutty schedules! She scored a lot of goals and had a lot of fun. She's still unsure about trying out for WLN's team. They have a reputation for not being the nicest group. One of her friends made the team last year and doesn't want to try out this year and my friend, whose kiddo goes to Lakeland, also said that they have a bad rep- still... who knows, maybe that will change. Regardless though I know she'll always play for Beav and Matt and we have a blast cheering on that group! Great season, Al!!

 Not quite sure what to say about Ali's soccer season. She's a fun player to watch but I know she gets frustrated. There were injuries from her teammates and since most of them are in high school, they often have other commitments so may not make practices or games. I'm not sure what Al's soccer future will look like. She does love her coaches and playing with the girls and she's so fun to watch! She's on the fence about trying out for her HS team. Time will tell what she decides but whatever she chooses and wherever she may be (field, court, stage, track), I will be there cheering her on!

 What can I say about Ali's soccer season... The poor girls had the cards stacked against them from the get. They never had subs and usually played short players. They play pretty rough and one girl did get a card for going after Al. It annoyed me a bit that other teams didn't play down so there would be equal numbers but Jeff pointed out that those other teams want to be able to see their girls play so why would they play down. I do get it... So- it wasn't a winning season but~ the girls did get lots of exercise and didn't play bad. With most of the team being in high school too it means little time to really practice. Al had a blast though and would play for Coach Beav and Coach Matt no matter what! She played a lot of midfield and did get a couple goals which was nice. In general though the team had a tough time putting it together and didn't put many points on the board. We had fun with the parents- most games we would say "Red Sub"...

This soccer season FLEW by and sadly today was Ali's last game! We ALMOST missed it! For whatever reason, I had it in my calendar for starting at 2 and my dad got to her game AT NOON and called to see where we were. Thank God he called!!! When Jeff got her there she said coach said, "Warm up... you're going in now!" Unfortunately I wasn't there because I was driving Seany to his game... Ali LOVES soccer and scored a nice goal today. I feel like she had lots of shots this year but they often went just wide- or the goalie would just get there in the knick of time... Jeff got some good pictures though so I could see a bit and imagine! She had her share of goals but not like the old days where she'd have them every game. The game has gotten tougher for sure!  Al plays hard and she plays to win. She was upset on Friday when she had to miss practice because... well... there's two of us and Joe had a meet and Jeff had to help get the boats ou...

 Ali wasn't going to play spring soccer since she usually played with the 7th graders and they were all trying out for the school team. When Jeff found that out, he decided to take a team (so he could schedule practices around Al's dance schedule). It was an interesting season. Despite not having the time to practice together much (there were a lot of no-shows which was frustrating for Jeff and they usually played with no subs or a man down), the girls played great and even beat a Jags (travel) team! It is so much more physical now and the field was huge which makes it hard to take pictures. Al got hurt a lot and Jeff even got kicked out of the last game. He was calling out the ref who wasn't calling out a member of the other team who took out 5 girls with cheap shots. He was shouting at the ref,  "Someone is going to get hurt and it's going to be on YOU!" After throwing Jeff out, the ref finally gave the girl a card but it was ridiculous. Al was worried...

I LOVE WATCHING THE SHARKNADOS! They had such a great season and were the champs! Ali scored every game (except the game that was scoreless). She makes things look so easy. I can't wait until next season. She was lucky again to have the most amazing coaches who schedule things so that she can be both a dancer and a jock for which I am SO thankful! This year they played 11v11 on the BIG field. They made the transition look easy. Way to go, Sharks!