Christmas Comes Late in Los Laureles

One of the most stressful yet exciting parts of the soccer season is upon us here in Los Laureles...the purchase of cleats. You may remember that from last year, in my innoncence, we trucked in upwards of 40 children to a local sporting goods store one fine afternoon to have their feet measured. It wasn't a disaster but I learned my lesson and this year I'm going about it piece-meal. Yesterday morning I took 10 boys from my U-12 to the mall to be fitted; today we have a nother 10 and tomorrow we start with the U-14 team. It's much slower going, especially since we have an extra 2 teams this year but it's much more manageable and almost, almost enjoyable. I do especially like taking the U-12 kids out because they so rarely get to leave the community and a simple excursion to the mall to have the feet played with for 5 minutes is a monumental event for them.

chiro, one of our best players on the u-12 team

and his brother chita who, at 9 years, old is barely eligible to play for us this year
his excitement and enthusiasm is impossible to hide.
oh, and i brought sergio along to help me manage the crowd.
he's almost 16 now and can be a royal pain but he can also be so incredibly helpful, especially when he's not around any other older kids. noel, another of our new additions this year.