First post to the Sports forums; comments are welcomed.

All shot with a Canon 40D & 70-200 f/2.8 IS wide open:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Thanks for checking them out.

- Josh

Great job on these, but i'm not sure about #8 - no head and tilted horizon

#8 doesn't really fit with the rest, I just kind of liked the look of it. Thanks for the comments!

#1... pretty good shot. The cars in the BG distract from it a bit.
#2... Crop it tighter vertically making the girl with the ball the point of interest. The goalie is adding a reference anchor but she is monopolizing the frame and taking away from the point of interest.
#3... Tighter vertically and you have a winner. Maybe lighten the face a bit to level out the shadows.
#4... Tighter and you have another good one.
#5... Tight vertical again. Forget the goalie. You don't have a face on her!
#6... We need to see the keeper's face to make it a keeper.
#7... One of the weaker ones in the bunch.
#8... Honestly, I thought it was a mistake in the post.... that you meant to post a different one. This doesn't even look like a kid. It looks like a grown man.

P Alesse -

Thanks for the detailed comments!

I didn't really know what to do about the cars. I was there to shoot the team in red, so I positioned myself behind the goal that they were shooting at in each half. I chose that particular side of the goal just so I wouldn't be shooting into the sun. Looks like I'll have to justify my purchase of a 300mm f/2.8 or 200mm f/2.0 to bokeh-out the backgrounds

I take it you'd suggest shooting from the more from the sidelines to get both players in the shots? I wasn't there so much to catch the game, more of just to shoot the girls from Eastside in action. But I might get better shots overall if I positioned myself better around the field.

Thanks again!

Josh... for the record, the 200/2.0 won't melt those backgrounds much more than your 70-200 will wide open. Background blur is more of factor of subject distance to lens and focal length. If looking to upgrade, do so with reach in mind, not bokeh. Bokeh will come with added reach and learning to shoot tight.

Good point. So you're saying I can't use that as an excuse?