(43-172) Little United

Today I witnessed the most incredible soccer game EVER!!  And for those of you who regularly read "The Bumpy Ride," you might be asking yourself, how many different kinds of soccer stories can she write;  but trust me when I tell you, that this one is worth the read.

I'm starting to find trends in our game days at soccer.  For instance, last week Lyndzi had the first game of the day and her team seemed a little off.  Then we went to Nicky's game, and although they won; his team seemed off as well.  Fast forward to today, and we were on the field by 7:20 to set up our goal and warm up for Kelsie's 8am game.  By 8 the opposing team only had four players, and their coach was no where to be found.  Some of our dads were kind enough to set up the goal for the other team, but by a few minutes after 8, it seemed unlikely that our game would take place.  The ref told me that the team had until 10 minutes after 8, to get a minimum of four players and a goalie on the field, or they'd have to forfeit.  One of the moms from their team stepped up to try and coach the four kids; and although Luis could have played seven kids, like a regular game; he did the right thing and played four as well.

By 820 or so, the other coach showed up with his son; so we were able to play 5 on 5, and the Torpedos won 8 to 1.

Both Nicky and Lyndzi were supposed to have 930 games, so I asked Luis if he wanted to go to Lyndzi's game first, and I'd go to Nicky's; because I had a feeling that if Luis went to Nicky's game first; come half time, Luis wouldn't want to leave Nicky's game.  Now here's the symmetry part... Nicky's team only had five players today; and the other team had 14. This has never happened before.  Nicky's team had to forfeit because they needed to have a minimum of seven players in order to "technically" have a game.  Nicky's coaches decided to play the game anyway, and told the opposing coach that he could play as many players as he liked; instead of just playing five, like us.  The other coach took them up on their offer, and played 11 players on the field, against our five.

I was sitting with (SMF) David, and our mouths just dropped.  Neither of us could believe that the opposing team was going to play so many players; and yet they did.  Within the first couple of minutes, the opposing team scored; and very shortly thereafter; so did Nicky.  And after Nicky scored; so did our goalie.  That's right, I said SO DID OUR GOALIE.  Our goalie got a hold of the ball, and ran the field and scored; not once, but three times by half time.

The coach of the opposing team was going wild.  He loudly advised his players that there were two of them to cover each one of our players; but you never would have known it.  David and I kept remarking how absolutely, unbelievable this game was; and I said "I can't leave at half time;" even though I knew that I had to.

When Luis arrived at half time, I apprised him of the situation and let him know that we were winning 4-1.  I went off to Lyndzi's game, which her team won; and then rushed back to Nicky's. 

There were a few minutes left in the game when I arrived, and the score was 5 to 3; with Little United still winning.  Luis told me that Nicky had scored two more goals, but one didn't count because he had been off sides.  Little United was exhausted, but they battled on; and when the whistle blew, they had won the game that they had to forfeit.

Oh my God, oh my God, OH MY GOD!  This was absolutely one of the best things that I had ever seen in my life; and I'm not just talking soccer.  I have so enjoyed watching Little United play all season long.  They are truly poetry in motion.  The coaches are the most knowledgeable, and skilled that I have ever encountered and I know that Luis is not insulted by that statement.  Nicky has made so much progress as a player with this team, and their drive and spirit are just spectacular.  

We only have one game left before heading to our end of season tournament, and I for one am going to miss watching Little United in action.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING    

                                                                              

(43-99) Guess Who Sang?

This morning was not a happy one, as I read my friend Lori's Facebook posts, saying that the Peoria school district override hadn't passed.  I'm not going to get into the details of what this would mean for our school district as I'm told that there are still early ballots that need to be counted, and I want to remain positive and optimistic until then - but suffice it to say that before learning about the uncounted ballots, I was quite distressed.

I got the kids ready for school, and I told them that since both Lyndzi and Kelsie had art today; I was going to meet them on campus for dismissal.  I reminded the girls that I expected them to be polite and cooperative with the art teacher; but assured them that my purpose for meeting them on campus was so that I could go directly to the principal if I received any concerning reports from them. 

I dropped the kids off at school and got back to work; but school and everything about it was very much on my mind.  Have you ever had one of those moments when you were  absolutely miserable but then you receive the MOST incredible news and you are deliriously happy?  OK, well, I'd never had one of those moments before either - until today! 

When I wrote "The Art Thief," and followed it up with "It Aint Over...,"  I thought that I had shared that it was my goal to have the Art Nazi gone by Christmas.  But looking back at my posts, I found that I never put that in writing; I had just shared that fervent hope with some of my friends.  Well MY FRIENDS; Christmas has indeed come early; as today I received the news that the Art teacher from hell had quit.  YES, you read that right, the Art Nazi resigned today; and I am delighted to report that the children will not be subjected to her anymore.  Talk about the GREATER GOOD!  Let creativity, crooked lines and the love of art prevail!!

To say that I am overjoyed would be an understatement.  I am THRILLED, I am GRATIFIED, I feel VICTORIOUS!  I feel like shouting "Ding Dong the witch is dead!"  Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord!  Thank you God!  AND EVERY OTHER proclamation that I can think of.  Yes indeed, the fat lady has sang!
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

SCORE!

I have been waiting for this day for weeks.... Opening day of soccer season for USA Soccer. I'm happy to say that I'm getting a reprieve this year in as much as my 3 kids will be playing on only 2 teams since Kelsie is playing up a year. Kelsie should be playing with 5 & 6 year olds; but since she started early (at age 3) everyone thought that she would be just fine to play with Lyndzi and the 6 & 7 year olds, so both of my girls are able to play together on The Shockers. WOOHOO!! Nicky will also be playing with The Shockers; but the 10 & 11 year old team and Luis is an assistant coach for both.

We started practicing just a couple of weeks ago and though all 3 kids were ready to start playing again it seems that Nicky has decided that this is the year for him to become a soccer player. Soccer seems to be making more sense to him lately and he is playing more purposefully which is so beautiful to see considering that he is not naturally an athletic kid. Nicky is an academic overachiever and he isn't used to be second best, but thus far at soccer he has not been a reliable, outstanding player and he is determined to change that NOW. Nicky has been plagued by an event that took place 2 years ago when he scored his first goal in a game but as luck would have it; after play resumed, the ref blew the whistle and announced that the goal hadn't counted and Nicky was devastated. All of the parents and his teamates assured him that it was an excellant goal and even though they weren't counting it, he still SCORED A GOAL; but he just didn't buy it and has been trying to vindicate himself ever since. So yesterday after practice, Nicky told me that he had been scoring many goals; that he knew that he needed to kick the ball to the side of the goal in order to score AND that he felt like he was going to score a goal on Saturday. He then said "What would happen if I scored a goal tomorrow?" And I replied "I would party like it's 1999." Which only served to date myself and confuse Nicky; but I thought it was hysterical.

Luis and I gave all 3 kids the usual pre- game pep talk. "We want you to play hard and give it your all; but most importantly HAVE FUN. It doesn't matter if you score a goal, (although it would be great if you did;) just try your hardest. And then we were ready to go.

We started our soccer day on the field at 730am. Nicky had the first of his double header at 8 and his team won 6-4. There was a noticeable difference in how Nicky was playing; so much so that one of the mom's commented; "Nicky seems to be playing with more confidence, he's more aggressive." And another said "I don't think it's going to be long before Nicky scores a goal," To which I replied "From your mouth to God's ears." Not because it's so important to me; but because it's important to him. We praised Nicky during half time, moms, coaches and players alike. Everyone told Nicky what a great job they thought he was doing and I think that really helped him. The game ended and we went on to watch a couple of friend's games before the girls warmed up at 1030.

Coach Russell decided to let Lyndzi try her hand at playing goalie and so in the hundred degree weather, Lyndzi put on the long sleeve goalie jersey on top of her uniform AND the soccer gloves, and she was raring to go. Lyndzi did a respectable job considering she hadn't had any practice as goalie and no one was really playing defender but for the second half she played forward and really played well. Lyndzi has scored goals in the past but today she scored an AWESOME goal and we all went wild. Now, what can I say about Kelsie? Kelsie is a natural fighter; so of course she played HARD. She held her own and then some and I couldn't have been more proud of my 5 year old running up and down that field, kicking with such determination and never giving up. Kelsie made a goal attempt and wasn't successful BUT I have no doubt that she will be scoring in the near future. The "Little" Shockers did far better than we had anticipated and it seems like they have a lot of potential; even though they lost.

Win or lose, I never tire of watching my kids play; which is a good thing since we had to head back over for Nicky's 2nd game of the day. We were joined by my friends Jackie, Tina and Kristin which just made our day even more special. I am so grateful to have friends who would sacrifice THEIR free time to come out to the soccer fields on such a hot day and watch MY KIDS play. And I am SO glad that they were there to witness Nicky in his glory. The game had only just begun and Nicky had a REALLY good kick. I was impressed by how hard he had kicked the ball and never in a million years would I have guessed that this kick would score a goal BUT IT DID! I felt like I had been watching the kick in slow motion; like Steve Martin in "Parenthood" when he is waiting to see if his son Kevin was going to catch the baseball. And although I didn't get on my knees and dance across the field, like Steve did; I screamed and clapped so hard that my hands hurt. Jackie said that she had NEVER seen me so excited and I coudn't agree more. I was SO overjoyed for Nicky and his accomplishment; that it was truly one of the best moments of my life. The moms were cheering, the coaches were astounded, and his teamates congratulated him; but MOST importantly, Nicky was satisfied. He was proud, he was confident, he was victorious. What a moment! What a day! Life is good!

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING