Fall Sports

Cross Country

For some time I have looked forward to the prospect of having one of my kids run cross country or track just like I did when I was younger.  This year Andrew decided to try out for the cross country team and I was beyond excited.  What made it even more special was the fact that I also started cross country in the 6th grade here in Japan and ran the same course that Andrew would be running.  The Tama Hills course holds a special place in my heart as I ran it for 7 seasons.  Andrew and I had the opportunity to run it together in the spring so he was well aware of the difficulties of the course.  When I ran it we called the dreaded hill "gut hill" but since then it has been changed to "killer hill."  Either way it is a beast of a hill and I get nauseous looking at it or even thinking about.  Andrew did well for his first season.  Practices were long and grueling but Andrew hung in there even through some pains that he experienced from his sudden growth spurt in August.  He learned that hard work pays off and that running is not an easy sport.  It requires diligence, dedication, and discipline.  I am so proud of him for sticking with it and for pushing it hard on all his runs.

Soccer

Peter has always loved to play soccer and so with the coming of the fall we found ourselves signing him up again for the soccer season.   This year we wised up and put him on the Ikego team because Ikego is closer to us than the main base at Yokosuka.  It was a bit of a rough start as some of the kids on the team were super bossy and not much fun to play with and the coach was a real piece of work.  Peter's team had some strong players and once they learned to play together and the coach wised up and gave them all equal time in the games their team did pretty well.  I don't think this was Peter's favorite season but he still had fun.  Peter played defense and midfield but had a game or two where he played forward.  Peter  was the strongest in midfield since he is not only a quick runner but has endurance.  It was good for him to be able to experience all the positions though.  Peter has told us that although he loves to play soccer he wants to run just like Andrew when he gets to middle school.  He is really looking forward to participating in running club this year now that he is a big 4th grader.