Soccer Pics

Soccer is over for this season, much to Sami's dismay. During the last game she had numerous saves as goalie and she scored 4 goals. Needless to say, she had a blast. Best of all, she made some great friends. Many of the players on the league go to our church, which means she will be able to continue building friendships with them. In fact the goalie that stopped a lot of Samrawit's shots was a girl who is in her Sunday School class. They were intense on the field, but they both enjoyed the competition and loved playing each other.

Did you ever wonder how Sami got the dark mark on her nose? We sure did. The last pictures that we got of her before we traveled was of Sami with a huge scab on her nose and between her eyes. Not pretty. Almaz said that she was playing soccer and got kicked in the face. She ran off of the field, splashed water on her face (9 year old attempt at cleaning her wound) and then tried to join the game again. Almaz had to MAKE her leave the game. The story didn't really make sense until the first game after she came home. Sami is a fearless, intense goalie. The pictures below are the best that we took, but we saw her grab a ball that numerous other players were kicking at, her face inches from their cleats, almost every game. I can't believe that she didn't get injured more than she did, especially since in Ethiopia she was playing coed soccer on a cement field. Fortunately all that is left of her injury is some hyperpigmentation and will disappear in 6 month to a year.

Sami getting a hug from her coach after she scored a goal.