Bambini Season Finale
They walked in the midday heat, the U6/U7 players born in 2019/2020, coached by Michael Lorca and Murat Aslan. They didn't walk in victory poses, but in an embrace with the ball under their arm, grass stains on their knees, and a small pride in their eyes, with even smaller sweat on their brows. Sunday marked the end of the season, a farewell, a summer day that will be remembered like the smell of wet grass after a rain shower.
They played against their parents, a game that ended 3:3 because it couldn't end any other way. Because it didn't matter who scored, as long as someone was laughing. A game that fit the picture of this season: "The children developed a joy for soccer, learned to motivate each other and to control the ball with more confidence, recognized the game as a team sport, accepted rules, waited, cheered, loved muddy matches, celebrated their first goals." Small steps, big stories.
And then there was Coach Murat Aslan, who is now leaving, after years where children weren't names, but faces, voices, hands that clapped when a ball kissed the net. Murat, who watched them grow, who breathed development, who now pours his farewells with gratitude, because "you always meet twice in life" and because a B license is just another push forward. "It was wonderful to see each child take their own small step," said Aslan.
Murat, you've won the hearts of the kids, and we say: Thank you, boy – the power was there!
Thank you for your effort, patience, smile, little motivational phrases, your hand on my shoulder after a fall, the quiet "It's all good," and the firm belief in the great sparkle in small eyes. Thank you for your place in this story.
The ball keeps rolling, Murat.