National Youth Soccer Championship

We left early for Jordan's first game in the National Youth Soccer Championship today.  It was being held at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports.  Since I had never been to an event there, I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time to park and find the field.  I was glad that we did as the facility was huge with thousands of soccer players filling the complex.  Thankfully, we made it in with no problem and soon found the Ross Richer family.  

While we waited for the game to start, they filled us in on yesterday's opening ceremony.  It sounded very impressive.  What was even more impressive was the fact that Jordan's team, ECU, was the only girls or boys team from Indiana that made it to nationals.  The game started promptly at 11:30 a.m.  Cameron and Avery went with Jordan's parents to the bleacher area.  I stayed in the shade to watch the game as it was over 100 degrees on the field.  

As this was ECU's first time at nationals, we weren't completely surprised to see that they were a little overmatched in the first game.  The boys ended up losing 7-1, but Jordan played well and had two shots on goal.  One was a header right by where I was standing.  It just missed.  It was disappointing for them to lose, but it was a fun game for us to watch.  We knew that tomorrow would be different as they now had the first game jitters out of the way.  

After the game, we all went to lunch at a Peruvian restaurant that friends of the Ross Richer family recommended.  It was delicious and nice to catch up with everyone.  While we were there, a storm rolled in delaying our trip back to their hotel.  While we waited, a huge bolt of lightening hit the building next to us.  It was a little scary.

The boys hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night.  We had brought their swimsuits and Cameron, Jordan and Avery took advantage of the pool.  We had to pick up Samuel at the airport at 9:30, so we thought that Pizza Hut would be the best choice for dinner.  The boys enjoyed hanging out and being entertained by a precocious ten year old.  We left a little after 8 for the airport.  Traffic was heavy, so by the time we parked and reached the gate, Samuel's plane had landed.  Within fifteen minutes we were back on the road headed for Ocala.  We were all tired, but the boys had so much to talk about that no one even thought about sleeping.  Their energy made the hour + drive back to Ocala an easy one for me.