My younger granddaughter is a soccer player; she’s 10 and has played with the same team since she was four. It’s been a lot of fun to watch them transform from a clump of tiny players who didn’t know what they were doing (and who sometimes needed the coach to hold their hand while they were on the field) to a team that consistently wins and is usually the top finisher in their league and whose coach will always ask them – win or lose – “Who’s having fun?”

All that’s why we found ourselves taking her to a professional soccer game the other night. The local team lost, but still it was fun to watch the game and try my hand at sports photography. I’m not planning on making that a full-time deal, but I did like this shot of the other team scoring on a free kick.

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 5.18.2023