Sand Soccer Tournament! WE are the Champs!

     Brenna did so well this weekend at the sand soccer tournament in Ocean City this weekend!  She won all of the games she played!  The first three to make it to the championships and then the championship game!  We had never been to a tournament and didn't know what to expect!!  We knew that Brenna had to play a game at 7:30, 9:20, and 11:10 on the sand near the boardwalk!  We had pre-ordered her sand socks so we knew that she wouldn't have to wear her soccer cleats or shin guards! 
     We arrived in OC around 5:00 Friday evening.  We got our room number and as we walked to our room we saw a banner on our door with Brenna's name on it.  Kate had made them for the members of our team.  It was so fun seeing that Mackenzie was next to us and so was Katie.  Elise was next to Mack and Lyla, Lindsey and Kate were upstairs in rooms above us!  It was so much fun!  We ran into the Farone's pretty quickly which was so much fun.  Brenna ran and hugged Kate.  They had to leave to register us for the tournament and we made arrangements to meet them for dinner.  During that time the Ferguson's showed up too!  So, we invited them to come.  We met at the Dough Roller, a place everyone knew about but me!  As we rode up the strip, Andy would exclaim at that place or that place that held memories from his high school years.  Me, I remember nothing except for Thrasher's and a ride that no longer is even there.  So, Andy knew Dough Rollers would be a family friendly place.  We had a great time. After dinner all of the girls came back and immediately wanted to go to the pool.  We let the girls swim until about 9:30, but couldn't let them go longer due to the fact that they were playing a lot of soccer in the morning, starting at 7:00am!!  Andy and Noah went out to explore the boardwalk and I got Brenna ready for bed and then hung outside my room where other "team soccer" moms had congregated!  We had a great time talking, you could just tell there was a lot of excitement about tomorrow in the air.  Around 10:30 (right after Brenna had texted me, but I didn't know it) I went in to check on Brenna.  She was still awake and told me she couldn't go to sleep.  I did what she did when she was little:  I laid down next to her.  She was asleep in about 20 minutes!  Then I stayed outside and talked til about midnight!  Andy and Noah still weren't home, I couldn't believe it!  I got ready for bed when Andy texted me he was on his way to the hotel.  I was asleep when he got there, but woke up enough for Andy to tell me that Noah had had a ball playing soccer at the fields where Brenna would play the next day.  Noah had so much fun.
I woke up with Brenna the next morning.  I was going to put out a morning treat for all of the girls; brenna wanted to come with me.  We had a great time putting treats at the hotel door of her teammates so they would see it when they walked out.  It was fun to do together.  Brenna was nervous about playing, I could tell.
Cathy and Kate rode with us to the inlet where the games were being played.  Cathy made fun of my careful driving on the way down!  She wouldn't believe me if I told her that Andy constantly tells me to be more careful.  We were almost the first to arrive to the fields.  And then all too fast, the fields were buzzing with people, and noise.  The boardwalk woke up!  Brenna's coach, Ronnie, arrived and started the girls off with warm ups.  Then the game started....
I realized right off, watching them, that it was much harder to run in the sand than on the grass.  The ball was much slower.  It took a little while for the girls to get in the groove; luckily, I think the other team was the same thing.  We won the first game 3-1.
After a quick break, game 2 began!  We all quickly realized that this team meant business!  They were here to win.  The entire pace of the game was so much more intense than the first game.  It made us so nervous.  But we pulled out the win 4-2!  We were so excited and so ready for a break from the hot.  I couldn't imagine how the girls were doing it.  The girls worked so hard out on that field.  They didn't stop for even a second.  They did everything they could within their power to keep the ball at the other teams goal so that we could score!!  It was amazing to watch them give their all.  The girls' only request about where we went was "some place cold."  So, we went into an air-conditioned boardwalk burger joint and asked for the coldest drinks possible!!!!  All to soon it was time to get back for game 3.
Game 3 had no where near the intensity of game 2.  We still weren't sure though since it was their third game how they would do.  However, after game 2, it was an easy win.  If you think playing in the sand which seemed to grab you and hold on to you with the hot sun beating down on you is easy.  But we won, 3-1.

We couldn't believe it...we had made it to the championship!  It was so exciting.  We decided to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool to cool off!  All of the girls had a quick dip in the pool.  And then we were off.

Game 4 was again, like game 3.  We were expecting the intensity of game 2, but got more the intensity of game 3.  But it was hot.  The sand burned my bare feet.  I wondered how the girls were getting on in their sand socks.  The sand didn't seem to bother them.  We had a pretty clean win.  It was again 3-1!  The girls were so excited when they were declared the winners!!  I am not quite sure they believed it.  For some of the girls, like Brenna, it was their first time here.  I know that I had set it up for Brenna that this was a weekend of fun soccer, playing in a new way with friends at the beach!  So, they couldn't believe they won!!  They were able to get their picture taken with a huge, huge trophy, but they got to take home a plaque!  It was so much fun!!!

Saturday night we had a celebratory dinner at Dead Freddy's!!  It was so much fun.  And on Sunday morning we went to the beach and played before we had to head out!!

Until next year!!