The Spookout - Dallin's First Soccer Tournament

On October 30, Dallin attended his very first soccer tournament...the Spookout Tournament hosted by RRSA. Our team this season has been a pretty solid little team so when this opportunity came up, we decided to go for it. It was a fun Halloween themed 3v3 tournament. Dallin's team of 6 normally plays 3v3 anyways so that was no big change for them.They decorated the fields with balloons, the board dressed up and even some of the Refs. Here is our ref in his/her blonde wig. The boys thought this was very funny! The teams could dress up or have matching Halloween themed shirts and names. They even brought in moon bounces for the kids between games.
Dallin's division was U5/U6. They played 3 games - each game was split into 2 - 10 minute halves. 5 of our players participated in the tournament. Since our uniforms this season were orange and black and our team name was the Tigers...we went with the theme and dressed up as "Tigers" for the tournament. The boys had their hair spray painted orange and black stripes (except Dallin who just needed black stripes added to his orange hair). Then we took black lipstick and drew on whiskers and a nose. The boys thought this was soooo great and they were so darling and excited about the whole thing. Several of them were barely able to sleep the night before.
Our first game was 10am against our arch nemesis...the Sharks. This was our 3rd time playing them this season and they have been the only team that has really been a challenge for us this year. The first time we played them....we got schooled. The second time (and this time) we gave them a run for their money, but still came up a little bit short. It was a tight and exciting game. Between the 1st and second games most of the team hung out at the bounce houses and let the boys go nuts. We brought snacks and picnic lunches to enjoy. Our second and third games (1pm and 5:30pm) were against U6 teams. Our boys were scared to "play against big 6 year olds", but they really did play well. I was really proud of them for holding their own. They did not win the games, but they DID hold their own and didn't give the game away. If we had been at our best, I think we could have taken them (not that I am biased), but our boys are littler and were so tired from all of this excitement.
In the younger age divisions, there were no 1st, 2nd, 3rd places awarded. Every boy got a participation medal. Our boys were so proud, and the medals were super cute. They had Spookout Tournament 2010 with a spiderweb goal and a skeleton goalie. I love this picture of all our lil guys and their medals. I hope our team stays together. They are so great! I especially love the way my dad is looking down at them. He is so proud. He really loves them (especially Dallin).

We had a really good time and learned a lot. It will be interesting to see how we do next year if we do it again! Dallin played really well. He is becoming a more seasoned soccer player and I love watching him play! GOOOOO Tigers!