My baby is almost N I N E. I’m still feeling like I’m in denial. Not because I want more children, or that I feel that our family is incomplete, it’s just hard to believe our youngest is almost 9 years old. It’s like time has sped by and I’m still here, trying desperately to hold onto each moment. Before I know it, he’ll be heading off to college.
Each year, it’s so important to me to find a way to incorporate our children’s passions into their birthday celebrations. With one born in June as the school year ends and the other right before Thanksgiving, I always feel this pressure to find time to make their day special.
Brayden has really grown to love soccer. He’s always been athletic and energetic, but it’s been so fun to watch him enjoy a new sport alongside baseball. That’s why I was so excited to find out about TOCA Football from a friend of mine. Located in Orange County, CA, TOCA Football is an indoor soccer training facility. They offer private and small group lessons to all ages to help improve soccer skills. Working on drills, footwork and shooting with both the left and right foot, their trainers have a strong background in soccer, some having played semi professionally.
Parties at TOCA can be groups of 15 or 25. They include trainers, drills, scrimmages, pizza and Gatorade. They will even decorate the event room for you. I only had to bring a cake!
We had 15 boys at the party and three trainers who divided the boys into groups, running drills that resulted in the losing teams doing burpees or push ups. They use games and competitions during drills to keep the kids entertained, all while teaching them new soccer tricks. Even the boys who don’t normally play soccer with Brayden at school were enjoying themselves.
After running drills for 35 minutes, the trainers put the kids into four teams and they scrimmaged against each other with a championship game at the end. Since these are the boys that Brayden plays soccer with at school, there was some good, fun competition happening.
After the scrimmage was over, the boys enjoyed pizza, provided by TOCA as part of their party package and cake! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know that I’ve gotten Brayden’s age wrong on his cake the passed two years. I’m thrilled to report that I remember he was turning 9 and there was a candle to prove it on his cake.
If you’re looking for a great cake idea, I recommend Costco. I ordered a plain “Sports themed” cake so it had the white and blue border, then I used green edible spray paint and two different colored green sugar crystals to make grass. These are the soccer men I snagged on Amazon for the toppers.
Happy Birthday sweet boy! We can’t believe you’re turning 9!
Thank you so much to TOCA Football for an incredible party. From the facility to the staff, it’s the perfect spot to host a birthday party, or even take your kids to train and learn new soccer skills. We will be back!
xo, Alissa
PS: TOCA is starting a program that launches the week of November 18 for kids under 6. It’s a morning program where your little ones can come and learn new soccer skills, but more just get their wiggles out in a fun and safe environment. Be sure to contact your local TOCA for more details.
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