Sports filled Saturday...

Bailey and Camden each had games this weekend. It was really fun to watch them (poor Mia had fun for the first hour, but after the 4th hour it got to be a bit much :-)). It was the first American Soccer game that I have been to in about 6 years and I chuckled at some of the differences between American Soccer and German Soccer (particularly with the spectators). So funny how you get used to things one way... Here are some photos of the weekend with a few of the differences...

Camden scoring on a corner kick (I was so happy that my point and shoot camera got this - lucky!)

Camden really enjoys his team - they are a fun bunch (and supportive too - here is a 10th grader patting Camden on the back for a goal - it made this 8th grader quite happy!)

Bailey Cheering at the Football game. Vilseck High School (Germany) vs. LakenHeath (England)

Bailey's school is one of the bigger American schools over here (in my school, being so big was called Class A), so the teams have to travel quite far sometimes to play other similar sized schools. The school from England came all of the way here to play.

Pouring down rain at the end, but a win for Vilseck (Bailey's School). I thought this picture was funny because there were so many kids on the team (including the Cheerleaders) saying "Good Game" at the end.... Quite a big group to fly in from England!

Thought this was funny too... Camden's soccer field is right beside the Helicopter landing. At the beginning of the game the coaches warned the kids that the Helicopters would be training and flying over to land during the game. They were strictly told to ignore the Helicopters and continue playing - so funny!  ... and hard to ignore!!!

looks a little like the MASH helicopter :-)

O.K. and here are some of the funny differences...We get to the field and all of the parents have brought chairs and are sitting. Absolutely nobody sits at a German games (and no one brings chairs either). One time when Mia was little, we brought a blaket to the game, but we were looked at like we were crazy - so we never did it again :-) It made me laugh to see everyone sitting. I know it is completely normal, but I am just not used to it.

Here is another difference. There is no "snack mom" to bring snacks and drinks for the kids on a German team. The other thing is that if there was a "snack Mom", she would definitely bring healthy snacks - not junk food :-)

At the end of Bailey's game, the announcer said over the intercom: "In order to assist with the cleanup - if everyone could please put their garbage in the trash" - Mia laughed out loud and looked at me and said in all seriousness, "Mommy - where else would someone put their trash?" - she is so German :-)

 

Another big difference is the yelling. Usually at Camden's German games the parents would yell "Ja Voll" meaning good job etc. They wouldn't "coach" from the sidelines though. And there aren't usually fights. There was a fight at Camden's game and I thought it was absolutely ridiculous - here you are at a 13-16 year old sporting event and people take it so seriously - willing to fight? - crazy! I do have to say though, on the German side, you would here the word sh** in German being yelled quite often.  The last big difference, and of course I have no picture for this one, but you don't have to pay to get into most German events (unless it was a professional team or a one time thing, but not for entrance to a normal game). Always, so many differences :-)