Fall Soccer

I coached Sadie's soccer team this fall. The coach backed out at the last minute so I decided to take my turn. It wasn't too painful because the season was only 10 games. Every other week we had 2 games. The rest of the weeks we had 1 game and a practice. 

The girls on my team were very nice, but we had a few who my dad would classify as "space cadets". See photo below of the girl pretending to fly during warm-ups. In a couple of the games I had to beg girls to stop doing cartwheels and play the game. We also had several players who only came to a few games. That was very frustrating because my players would be complaining about wanting a rest and we didn't have enough subs.  

 The biggest surprise for me was Sadie. She wasn't the most athletic kid on our team, but she was a great role player. And she has a good mind for sports. As in, when she played defense she still stayed engaged when the ball was on the other end and she would go to the appropriate side of the field to where the ball was, to anticipate where the opposing offense would come from. She figured out that no matter how big or good the other team was, if she just got in the way on defense she could usually stop them. She also played a great goalie because she wasn't afraid of the ball. She would run right at the offensive players and dive on the ball. 

Daniel and I both are very encouraged at her hustle, competitiveness, and strategy.