Soccer and Basketball

Last weekend Michael's soccer team place 2nd in the FCCA Carolina Shoot out.  Michael scored a goal in the 2nd game!

 This picture is of the team and all the sisters that came to the final game. It's great when you hear them cheer their brothers on!

Emma made the JV Basketball team at West!  

(She's #16 in her practice jersey.)

 Wednesday night she has a scrimmage game against South Rowan. She played guard and center during the "games" that lasted 10 minutes each. She did much better than we expected since she hasn't played since 4th grade.

 

That's her on the left going after the ball. 

And there in the center after she took a shot.  

We are excited to see what she does during the coming season! 

We are so proud of them and their accomplishments on the court as well as in the classroom as each of our kids know academics come first then then court, field, track or ball!

Joey got his FIRST Assist!!!

On Thursday, October 20th (aka Bart's b-day) Joey got his first assist in his high school career!  Way to go Joey!!!!  Read it here.

Crazy Circles

Jamey & I have pretty much spent the last couple of weeks running in what seems a circle with an extremely few pit stops. Joey & Michael have been having soccer practice and Emma, volleyball practice.

Michael has already had 2 3v3 games, the first of which his team finished 2nd place overall in the u-12 division and the last one I have no idea where they placed because it was a down pour for the last game and it didn't get played, but the boys did have fun! He has a full blown tournament coming up shortly. Michael is now playing with the North Davidson Soccer League (NDSL) as we weren't in a high enough tax bracket to stay with certain people of FCCA. It had gotten to the unfortunate point where the parents tax bracket was more important than the skills of the child playing. Well - unless you were Mexican, and that became an entirely different story. Michael was extremely unhappy by the end of the last season (as were we), so we left. Michael is extremely happy now with the Sidekicks.

Joey and Emma both have tryouts for the JV squads at West this week for their respective fall sports. Good luck to them!!!

We have been having different levels of fun since the beginning of summer, but the one I still am laughing over is Cow Emma. I was cleaning my closet (again) and came across our cow costume. Emma, who is now an adult size fit it perfectly. After she grazed in our yard, she

went to ask neighbors if she could have a cup of milk. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. The thought still makes me chuckle.

Charlotte Eagles vs. New England Revolution

If you want to read the actual sports report,click here

It rained, and rained and rained some more. We got very wet! But by the end of the game, it had stopped. The Eagles lost 2-0 - but they had some nice shots on goal.

Besides his picture being made with several players, he also got some autographs on a mini ball. I felt better about paying $10 for the ball when I saw a regular sized ball with Sarlie Joseph's autograph on line for $250. Now, to try to justify the $70 for the N.E. Revolution or USA National replica jerseys Crash is asking for.

Maybe one day, we will make it to Washington DC to see the DC United play the New England Revolution!

Below is Sharlie Joseph with Crash. He is the team captin and a MLS 2009 MVP finalist and is also a member of the Grenada National Team (his home country).
The autograph and picture are worth much more than just a signed ball bought online anyday!

First Place!!!!

Michael's team finished first place in their u-10 divison this season. Wish Michael luck as he goes to try outs in 2 weeks to see if he makes the team again for the fall season!

So Much Going On!

Ok. We have had so much going on, I forgot to post update on what is going on!
Emma finished volleyball season on March 28th with a dreadful game. Not going into detail, except to say it wasn't a good day.

Michael's soccer team won FIRST place in their U-10 Bronze division. With the final game for the season on April 5th. Tomorrow, we travel to Concord to Frank Liske Park for the First Strike Tournment. First game is at 10:30, so Michael needs to go to sleep now (i just heard him bounce around in his room). Then on April 25th, his team will travel to Winston for the Beat the Heat tourney being played at the Sara Lee Fields.

Emma is now playing softball. Their first game was on the 15th and they won 11-1 (against Arcadia) and tonight they beat Welcome 11-2. She played well both nights getting on base, scoring 1 tonight and was left on 3rd Wednesday as the 3rd out came before she could run. She also stole 2nd & 3rd tonight. She is having a blast on the Lady Dragons.

Joey is doing well, he isn't participating in anything other than band at school. Occassionally, he will leave his room for food but not much more than that. We visited TEACCH (www.teacch.com)in GSO to see if they could help us any & at the moment I am filling out papers so he can be put on a waiting list. TEACCH is for kids and adults that fall under the Autism spectrum.

Unfortunately, due to us running so much, I don't check email often enough at the moment, so if you need us, you can call or text me at 336-470-4737 or jamey at 336-240-3455 or emma at 336-240-4283 (Easter Bunny got her a boost mobile cause I was tired of her using mine.)
Time for bed, I will post pics later - or you can visit my Picasa Albums online @ http://picasaweb.google.com/jameymande

Rowan Revolution

Today was the last game of the fall season. They played a great game using everything they had learned on since August. The score card showed the game tied 2-2, but that's only the score card -- not how they played or the ways calls were or WEREN'T called. Time to work on skills & kept conditioned for the spring - unless indoor soccer beckons Michael's to pay attention to it.... we'll see.....

Back row: Coach Ryan, Irving, Carter L., Adam, Michael, Coach Greg

Front row: Carter R., Ahmed, Tanner, Braxton, Wyatt

:-( Season's over...

Last night, West lost 3-2 in the second round of the 2-A playoffs. The boys played well as they always do.

The boys in the picture are Michael's resident heroes. From left to right, Will Triechler, Diego Carvallo & Patrick Boger

Night @ Catawba

The Catawba Indians faced the Lincoln Memorial University last night in Salisbury. Unfortunately, they lost 0-1 to the Railsplitters. There is a story on the game at http://gocatawbaindians.athleticsite.com/article.asp?articleID=3261 Michael and his teammates were ball boys during the game. During halftime, smaller goals were set up and a mini field was created half of the main field. The boys played a friendly game against each other. It was fun to hear the college kids cheer for the little ones.
In the picture with Michael is Matt Halton from The Woodlands, Texas who is a Junior at Catawba. Matt plays defender, which is the same position Michaels plays mostly. Michael made it a point to find Matt after the game. Michael had met Matt during a Skills Night that Catawba holds occassionally.
As a side note, only 7 of the 25 players for the Railsplitters are from the USA. The other ones are mostly Brazilian with a couple of English and Canadians. If you are a soccer fan, I highly suggest to check out local colleges to watch. You will NEVER complain about high school refs again!