A year of skating lessons and we have moved to the next step, Termites.

Termites is a group of maybe 50 6 years & Under kids doing hockey drills up and down the length of the ice rink. Thane is probably the youngest kid in the class and was several inches shorter (and remember, he is tall for his age) than most other kid on the ice. We had concerns that he was not ready for it yet but we wanted to get him started, especially after seeing how well he did in his second season of soccer.

We talked Termites up all week. He was getting very excited and loved his new yellow jersey. When we took him out towards the ice, I saw a bunch of “seasoned” kids hitting the ice hard and got a little worried about how my baby would handle it out there. Our guy, who usually takes a moment to survey everything before diving in, hit the ice and did not even look back to wave at me. He went straight to a coach who called him by name (he got a new sticker on his helmet with his name, same as everyone else) and went to line up for drills.

First on the ice

Getting ready to talk to Coach

Lining up for drills

Notice the size difference

Drills

Today, as most days, was about drills. Skating down the rink, they have to do certain things, stop on the line, crouch down, fall, etc. The first thing we saw him do was stop on the line and he did a hockey stop right where he was supposed to. His biggest challenge was falling on purpose. He is very hesitant to fall so where they had to fall on the line, he just kept going. One of the coaches came by and helped him learn to fall and then get up using his stick.

Waving to dad near end of class

Thane stayed in the game the entire practice and then came off the ice with big smiles. I cannot wait to see him on Monday’s ice time!

First snow on the stick

Big smiles after

Jay asked Thane if he could sing a song for GiaGia and Pappou to wish them a HAPPY GRANDPARENT’S DAY today…

Last spring, Thane in soccer was a practice of mommy and daddy’s patience rather than Thane’s mad fly soccer skills. The drive, with traffic, took almost an hour from work, and the same from home with no traffic. Jay was coach and likened coaching 3 & 4 year olds to herding cats, with a slight preference for the herding of cats. There were times when Thane would run down the hill or to get snack or to get a different soccer ball… during the game.

Today was different. Today was THE GREAT THANE! A season of soccer and a few more months in age have made quite the difference. Thane was going after the ball each and every time, trying to keep it in bounds most of the time, and always making sure it was going in the right direction.

Thane scored 2 goals today!!! If you ask him though, he scored 3 goals and he is 3 years old. Yago scored 1 today too..his first…Go Yago!!!

After Yago's Goal

Talking to Coach Craig

Oh and by the way, our team, the Austin Aztecs, so won the game today, but who was keeping score?