Spring Soccer for Chase

Chase has had a great spring soccer season with the Rangers.  Coach Brian took over the team and has been great with the boys.  Soccer has been all consuming for Chase. Between the academy team and the competition team, Chase has soccer practices and or games 5-6 nights during the week.  It definitely keeps him busy.  When he plays on the competition team, he plays defense.  He has developed into a great defensive player!  Coach Brian has been very complimentary about Chase and said that he is a key player for the team.  

A few weeks into the season, Chase was complaining that his left knee was really bothering him.  Halfway through the games, he would be limping.  I could tell something was wrong because Chase is very tough.  His knee swelled up and was very painful for him.  We had a neighbor who is a physical therapist come over and look at it.  He diagnosed it as patellar tendonitis.  Chase had to take a break from soccer for a couple of weeks to help the swelling go down.  Then for the rest of the season he had to wear a brace just below his knee to help support the tendon.  Luckily by the end of the season, it was doing much better and he was able to play a lot of soccer.

 

Chase has been with Rangers for four years and the competitive team for three years.  It has been wonderful to watch him come out of his shell and develop his soccer skills.  He's a fast player!  He's made some wonderful friends on this team.  At the end of the season, Chase told us that he didn't want to do competitive soccer (AAA) anymore.  We were very shocked at first but then we accepted his decision.  An answer to our prayers came when Raeder asked Chase if he would try out for his AA team.  The coach came up after tryouts and said that they would love to have Chase on their team.  Chase was very excited about it because it will not be the pressure.  They take a break during the summer and start back up in mid August.  He will only have soccer (practices and games) three nights a week.  That makes him smile.  We were sad to leave the Rangers but as the drama played out, the team ended up dissolving so it was a huge blessing that Chase found this new team.  

Back row:  Cooper, Chase, Soren, Nicko, Sam, Eli, Tanner, Stockton, and Jackson. Front row:  Reed, and Zack.  They've been such a fun group of boys.  We've had a lot of great memories with them!