Finalist-ly!!!

Oh My Goodness! They did it. They brought home the hardware! And not just any hardware - the hardware with the with the Blue Ribbon!

MyGirl and her team are CHAMPIONS! After the last year of entering four tournaments and bringing home FOUR Finalist medals - they finally made it over the hump and walked to the car with a CHAMPION Medal around their necks.

Not for nuthin' - those four finalist medals were fought for. They were hard to get. Many teams went home early on Sundays while MyGirl's team (and parents and siblings) hung out for the Championship match just to lose. I'll say this - the WORST loss of any tournament seems to be the Championship match because they are SO close to walking away feeling like they are the best - even if they did their best.

The great thing about this tournament is that MyGirl learned a little something too. During yesterday's semi-finals MyGirl got yelled at by Coach #3 and she did something that she rarely does... she yelled back at him. EEEK! I had no idea what she said but I know MyGirl. I KNOW it was out of frustration. In general, she doesn't talk back and she NEVER talks back to the coach. Well, Coach #3 might have also known that, but I could tell (and so could she), he was not happy with her response.

YANK! Out of the game she went - to take a well-deserved time out, just after a brief and what-I-found-out-later-to-be stern "lesson" from the coach. When she went back in, she looked to be...a bit calmer. At half-time, the score was 0-0.

The second half, it looked like MyGirl's team had been replaced by a whole new (better) team and they had fire in their eyes. (I have no idea what was said at the half-time talk, but I'm hoping Coach #3 "vaulted it" so he can pull it out again!)

Less than two minutes in, MyGirl rocketed a shot from inside the 18 and they were up 1-0. She was happy. I was happy. She ran back to her position, saw me cheering, pointed at me and said, "That was for you!"

THAT is why my kid is so cool! Here's another reason (I think anyway):

Over the course of four games this weekend, we had the same center ref three times. (Refs definitely deserve their own post and I promise, I'll get to it one day.) This ref, had some minimal left-side paralysis. His left hand was contracted and he held his arm close to his body. At times you could see him supporting his left upper extremity with his right.

Coach #3 told me after we had won and before the medal ceremony, MyGirl had a conversation with that ref that went something like this:

MyGirl: 'I have a question.'
Ref: 'Okay, ask.'
MyGirl: 'How come when you point with your left hand, you hold your hand like this?'

I know that some parents would be completely embarrassed right now, but I'm not. I'm proud.

Ref explained that he had cerebral palsy and that he has some minimal impairments on his left side. He uses ref-ing games as his exercise.

I have told MyGirl and TheBoy their whole lives, when you see someone that's different, don't stare, just ask 'em. And now I know that all the times that I said it. She listened.

And I'm so grateful that she had the courage to ask. And I'm even more happy that she saw someone that was different than her and she didn't judge them a bit.

She asked me this morning if there was a cure for that CP. Sadly, there is not.

No matter how many goals MyGirl gets (or doesn't get) I will be proud of her for moments like that. She is a lovely girl and no matter how many Championship medals the girl brings home, she will always be My Girl. (Just FYI - "lovely" is not ALWAYS the adjective I would use to describe her. Especially not in these "tween" years. But as a whole, she is lovely.)

That said, I agree with her. She looks better in blue than she does in red. It brings out the color of her eyes.


Thanks for the good luck wishes. We need them again this weekend when we travel to six hours north for the girls to play some tough teams. Wish us GOOD luck!

Big Girls Don't Cry

But soccer players do. There is no crying in baseball, but in girls’ soccer – there is.

Yesterday was my birthday and to celebrate we headed to the soccer fields. I’ll be honest; I’ve had worse things to do on my birthday.

We live in a small soccer community and the more a team progresses the smaller it gets. So inevitably, MyGirl’s team plays a lot of the same teams over and over again – which in turn means, the girls on MyGirl’s team know the players on the other team.

What’s funny is how much they know about their opponents. They know their numbers, their names and even their favorite ball moves. They know some of them so well they have even come up with nicknames for some of them.

Sometimes the nicknames are mean – so mean that MyGirl has been instructed to only use those nicknames in the car with the doors closed and the windows rolled up. (Most of the time – they are funny and usually a little true… I probably should have said that in the car.)

Anyway, one of the teams they played yesterday has a girl on it that cries EVERY TIME we play them. It’s maddening. The girl falls down (maybe with some help from one of our players, maybe not), stays on the ground, sobs for what seems like 10 minutes and then brushes herself off and continues to play. The whole time, her teams’ parents are commenting on the foul that should be called.

Well yesterday, her own teammate took her out. And amazingly – no comments from the parents on the roughness of play – interesting, isnt’ it? She cried for a while and end up staying in the game. (This is when you ask yourself, "How hurt was she really?")

When we got in the car, I asked MyGirl what she thought about that. She said that when it happened she couldn’t help herself and said aloud (in her most sarcastic voice), “Well, THAT was bound to happen.”

That said, MyGirl shed a few tears yesterday too. She was put in a position that she rarely plays and her coach was yelling at her – not in a harsh way, but definitely on her case. Her tears were out of frustration and I saw it coming. But she sucked it up and did the best she could. Usually, after tears of frustration comes what I refer to as “crazy eyes.” She gets this look on her face like she is going to hurt someone. It’s bad. Well – she didn’t get “crazy eyes” yesterday, which to me means mental progress.

She did, however, get the prettiest goal I have seen her get in awhile, although she won’t take (and doesn’t deserve) all the credit. All-StarGirl had a beautiful penalty kick, which landed right on MyGirl’s head and from there – it darted past the goalie's hands into the goal. (Totally YouTube Worthy!)

MyGirl said, “All-StarGirl should get the goal because all I did was close my eyes and turn my head toward the goal.”

Well that maybe true, but all I can say is, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!”

Anyway - We have our first tournament of the season next weekend. And I have never seen more heartbreaking tears than at a girls soccer tournament. This is what the girls practice for. And no matter how well they play, a hard-earned loss in a tournament hurts more than most injuries suffered on the field.

So, wish good luck to MyGirl and her team this weekend because all true soccer moms (new or seasoned) know one thing…. GOOD luck is better than NO luck or BAD luck!

I personally, would like to see some tears of joy this weekend!

Getting Gear'd Up...

Soccer season has officially begun (about six weeks ago actually!) and it’s high time I get the car stocked for the season. Better late than never, I guess. I am in no way a soccer veteran but there are some things I have learned that I can’t travel without.

MyGirl’s first outdoor soccer tournament was a muddy mess. They played their first game in the rain on Friday night. The fields were still in decent condition when we left that evening, but when we returned on Saturday around noon, I saw tow trucks pulling mini vans from the what-used-to-be-a-grassy parking lot. I felt a little panicked until Hubs offered to drop us off with "all of the stuff" and he would park at the strip mall across the street.

I fumbled with a cooler, two camping chairs, a bag full of snacks, my purse and my to-go cup of coffee. Can you say AMATEUR?

So here’s the deal… if it’s raining – and I can almost guarantee that you will play in the rain at least once this year… Don’t bring your cooler, your snacks or your purse… Bring your ponchos, galoshes and an umbrella. Will you look like a total dork on the sidelines? Yes, but you will be dry. (The only person that I have seen rock out the rain outfit is MPIC – but that girlie can glam up any look – just sayin’.)

The girls played in a sloggy bog of mud that was at least a half-cleat high that weekend and it was a little cold. One of the girls on the team was wearing cotton-lined, “swishy” pants under her uniform shorts to keep warm. Not a bad idea – until those pants got so wet and muddy that she was stepping on them while she was running and it was really slowing her down. Her parents weren’t there and the girl was staying with SM3.

We knew we had to do something. So at half time, we ran over to the sidelines, the girls circled around us so that no one could see what we were doing. I held an old towel around the girl and SM3 pulled off her shorts and pants (over her shin guards, socks and cleats) and then slipped her shorts back on her – all the while the girls were attentively listening to Coach #2’s half-time drumming.

Whew! Lesson learned. Girls wear leggings that layer under their shin guards.

So here are a few things I try to keep in my car during soccer season:

• Deluxe camping chair – And when I say deluxe, I mean lightweight and easy to carry. You will appreciate it when you have secured the last parking spot in the lot and you have to do a 3K just to get to your field
• Umbrella – I use mine to provide shade as well. (Me + The Sun = Not Friends)
• Ponchos – one for everybody in the family
• Old towels – especially when it rains (or for when your youngest child finds a sinkhole – right, SM3?)
• Wet wipes - You will need them – Pinky Swear.
• Blanket or two – For when it’s cold or to let people sit on it.
• A couple of extra bottles of water
• Sunscreen
• A box of SCENTED Fabric Softener Sheets – to stuff in cleats or backpack when the smell is just too much.

IF I was really good, and I’m not…. I would also put an old pair of shin guards, an extra ball and some socks in there…

Before games, I always try to make sure MyGirl has packed the following in her backpack:

• Both jersey tops – I’ll repeat (as does the manager over and over and over)… she needs BOTH jersey tops at every game. Sometimes, she is assigned to wear white, but when she shows up, she has to wear blue. It's just part of life. Just pack'em both.
• Mouthguard…. See earlier post.
• Inhaler (exercise-induced asthma) - Nothing is worse than leaving it in the car when she needs it.
• Shin guards and cleats (DUH!)
• Extra socks – especially if she has more than one game.
• Extra clean shirt – in case we go somewhere after the game
• Crocs, Slides or other slip on shoes (MyGirl normally wears them to the fields and changes into her cleats in the car.)
• Plastic bag – to put wet cleats/clothes in
• Water bottle (preferably filled with water)
• Gear for the colder days - “Underarmour” shirt, gloves (with grippies) and an ear-band

Last year, I started letting her pack the bag and then I go through it to make sure she has everything.

If there is a new soccer mom out there reading this… I hope it helps. To all of my soccer friends, I know you already do all this stuff because I learned from all of you.