Sometimes.... Soccer is Dumb.

First let me say, I’ve been wanting to write a blog for a long time. But, I haven’t had the time and I haven’t really had a topic to write about. Well – I’ve had a lot of topics to write about, but not one that I could write about coherently without infuriating myself.

For all the good and fun that soccer is on the front end, there is definitely some serious behind-the-scenes BS that goes along with it.

Let’s start with try-outs. Try-outs are almost ridiculous. At MyGirl’s club, you can go to 2-3 try-outs and supposedly a non-partial evaluator scores you. Girls with like scores are put on the same team for an entire year. That SOUNDS fair, but is it?

What if you have a bad day at the fields and you leave there feeling like Charlie Brown with Lucy pulling the ball out from under you at every kick.

(Just a side bar – Lucy annoys me and if I was her mom, I’d beat her – to a pulp.)

What if you have a GREAT day and every pass or shot you take is perfect? It’s like your ruby red cleats have a spell on them cast by Mia Hamm’s fairy godmother.
Either way, there’s a chance you end up on a team you’re not supposed to be on.

What’s the solution? I don’t know.

This year at our club, one of the age groups was picked in the craziest way I have ever heard of in Travel Soccer. They had try-outs and didn’t have enough to roster two teams. So they had make-up try-outs. The first “x” number of people to get their paperwork handed in at the make-up try-outs, made the team.

Can you hear the manager explaining this method? “So, ummm, we’re not playing A/B or Parity soccer – we’re playing first-come, first-served soccer. Ummm, you’re daughter’s not the best soccer player we had come out, you just happened to show up first. So, congratulations on your timeliness!”

My biggest mistake this year was not having MyGirl try out for more than one club. I don’t know what the heck I was thinking. I feel 100 percent sure we would have stayed with our current club in then end, but it sure would be nice to feel like MyGirl had a choice. Next year, she will.

Here’s something that shocked me too. When I said to some of my friends that I wished I would have taken MyGirl somewhere else to try out – people gave me a loyalty speech.

For real?? Loyalty to whom/what? The team?? The club???? Is the team or club loyal to MyGirl?

I can answer that without question with a resounding “NO.”

Trust me, if MyGirl was at the bottom of the skills totem pole at a try out, they wouldn't keep her because of her loyalty to the team thus far. They would cut her and never look back. (Well, unless we got our paperwork turned in on time.... then I guess we'd have a small chance.)

Loyalty in travel soccer comes in 10 month spurts. You sign with a team and you are loyal to them for those 10 months. And then you move on – new year, new team. Sometimes - new uniform.

Over the past two years, MyGirl’s team has gained two players from other clubs and the team has welcomed the girls. For the most part, I don’t know why they left their old clubs. And I can guarantee you that MyGirl doesn’t care. She’s just glad to have them as teammates this year! And for the next 10 months, we will all be loyal to one another.

The bottom line is - you have to look out for your own kid, because no one else is going to. Every team in every age group at every club is different.

Okay – that’s it for now, but know this: There is plenty more behind-the-scenes soccer nonsense that goes on.

The new soccer season has begun and we go on our first road trip this Saturday. Woo Hoo!! Wish us luck!

BTW - MyGirl broke that tooth again. Another permanent crown next week. Or should I say, "temporarily permanent."