Anglers FC Spring 2025

This spring was the first season for Jonathan playing with Anglers FC. This club was a much better fit for him and us. Practices and games were almost all during the week after school, and there was very minimal travel and cost involved. Jonathan played on their middle school aged team, but ended up taking a break later in the fall since there was no fall season due to high school soccer.

Anglers Futsal

Jonathan made the move from Pride Soccer Club to Anglers FC this winter. After a less than desirable fall season for the family with Pride, we started looking for a better fit. The first opportunity with Anglers FC came between seasons, with their coed friendly futsal league. It was a positive experience and good fit, and allowed Jonathan to keep active.

Weekend in Durango

Jonathan and I had a great weekend down in Durango together. His soccer team had scheduled The Durango Shootout as the final tournament of the season. Although it was a whirlwind 42 hours in town, we managed to cram in a lot of good things.

On the topic of soccer, Jonathan's team didn't do so well, but he almost scored a great goal from near midfield. The goalie had come out of his box and the clearance when right to him. His shot bounced and rolled towards the open goal and it hit the post!  At least he got a souvenir sweatshirt and sit in the hot tub.

Our hotel was located right next to the historic Durango & Silverton Railroad. On the first night we were there the train came in, so we were able to walk down and look at the train, station, etc. It was a pretty cool experience to see an old steam engine in action.

I had brought my bike too because I wanted to do a little more riding in the area. I got up very early one morning and had an amazing ride around the Animas Valley. Such a pretty place. All of the pictures below of the landscape is from my two rides.

We also got to see some really pretty things along the drive, such as the area around Pagoda Springs, Treasure Falls, and Chimney Rock National Monument. It was definitely a good trip, but pretty tiring. Glad I was able to spend so much time with Jonathan too!

The Incline

Jonathan's first time up the Manitou Incline (with his soccer team, white 10B)!

Action Shots

Pride of the Rockies

This was the first tournament of the season for Jonathan's new competitive soccer team. I thought it was really cool that it was held at the Air Force Academy, since I played soccer tournaments as a kid on these same fields more than 30 years ago. It bought back a lot of good memories and I was glad that Jonathan was also getting to experience them too.

They played four games over the course of Saturday and Sunday, with the final game being the championship. Rain, lightning, and hail didn't stop the weekend from happening, it just delayed everything a little bit. Jonathan played well and almost scored a goal, but it was saved by the keeper. In the end Palmer Divide was too strong for all of the other teams in the 2010 and 2011 age group, and Jonathan's team finished in second place (and got a runner's up medal).

You can tell when Jonathan is excited about something, because when he's excited, he talks a lot. As in, non-stop all the way home. We're glad that he made the switch and also happened with the coach and team he got on (White 10B). There are a lot of good kids and families on his team, which is far from guaranteed when you start down this path.

Flag Football

Jonathan played flag football again this fall, this time with his friends/brothers Andrew and Tyler. We were all excited to find out that this season they would be playing as the Broncos.

Things started off really well. They won their first two games of the season, but then dropped the remaining games and barely missed the playoffs. Jonathan did great. He played a little bit of wide receiver, but mostly he played defense at cornerback and safety.  The good news is that most of his team were 6th graders, and this league they were playing against 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I hope he continues to play with this team and coach in the future.

Go Jets

This spring Jonathan is playing NFL flag football with a few of his classmates and friends, Andrew and Cade. It's pretty funny to watch them play, as I imagine it's similar to what they did on the playground for recess everyday.

Jonathan usually plays wide receiver and defensive back, so he's on the field for most of the game. He is pretty quick, especially on defense. In the first game he got a "pick six"! Special thanks to Grandma for these great pictures.