Soccer!

I have entered the new exciting world of coaching a recreation league youth sports team.  Oh man, it's crazy.  My team is 10 and 11-year-old girls in soccer.  We have some lively ones.  Landon comes to be an assistant coach when his schedule permits, and he was excited to be a line judge for his first time ever.  The girls think he's great.  They call him all sorts of things, including "Landy" and "Mr. Sir".  They crack me up.  We have one girl that spends half of her time whining on the ground because it's not fair when someone scored while she was on defense.  Landon just pulls her to her feet and keeps playing.  I do a trivia question each practice about obscure rules of the game, so they can learn all the nuances of soccer.  I give mini candy bars to those that find out the answer.  Hannah spent about 3 minutes giving me a very practiced pouting lower lip and teary eyes, trying to get me to crack and give her a candy bar just because.  I must say, she is pretty skilled at that face!  Other girls are still afraid of the ball and scream whenever it comes above the waist.  Our practice on trapping was really exciting because of it.

My team told me that they have only won one game in the past two seasons.  I was really excited to get to work with them and help them improve, but I was a little disappointed when I found out how the program is set up here.  When I grew up, we had two practices a week that were probably about two hours each, and then one game each weekend.  Here, they seem to want to get through the season quick, so they have two games each week, and one practice, which they tell you must be only an hour--for the parents' convenience.  It makes me kinda sad.  These girls never get time to practice and improve, and then they spend all their time in games, where most people revert to instincts instead of anything they practiced.  Especially when they can't practice long enough for anything to become a habit.    So, we may not improve their win-loss record, but hopefully I can teach them something, and we can all have some fun doing it.  I haven't had a chance to take pictures, but I will post them in the future when I take them.

It reminds me a lot of when I was a kid.  I really have to say, I have great parents.  I remember when my Mom took the time to paint a cute banner for our team name that we put up on the sidelines.  She also helped in bringing treats.  If anyone has ever been around kids' soccer, you know that we all look forward to the oranges at half time and the treats after the game.  My parents used to drive me all over Washington for my games, and my mom would braid my hair in the car so I could match the other girls, and she made sure my uniform was all washed for the game.  Two uniforms actually, because we never knew what color we were going to wear at tournaments.  My parents would shield me so I could change on the field, ha.  And my Dad was always there yelling on the sidelines.  I see the parents freezing at our games in Provo, and I think of when my parents driving all the way to Olympia just to stand in the rain while we slid around on the field.  And they did all this for all five of the kids in my family.  Parents make all the difference, I have decided.  But, I also remember thinking my coach was the coolest guy ever, and I learned a lot about soccer from him.  Practices were always busy and fun.  I really just loved to play.  I just hope I can help these girls have a similar experience!