It was a time of joy, it was a time of sorrow. It was a time of sheer magnificence, it was a time of lazy indifference. It was a time of pride, and a time of disappointment.
It was a weekend of youth soccer in Suburbia.
On Saturday, soccergirls team (which I coach), The Dynamite, played a beautiful, and joyful hour of soccer, in which they defeated their opponents in a decisive 8 to 3 victory. Soccergirl had 3 goals, and she, as well as all of her teammates played with skill and verve and determination. They worked hard, and pulled together. They played as a team, they talked to each other, they passed the ball around, the took hard driving shots at the goal.
They were fearless. They were fierce.
As a coach, I was proud of their hard work, and quite pleased with the results. As a parent, I was near bursting with pride, watching my child play so well.
Saturday was a good day for the family.
Today, I was reminded of the 18th verse of the 16th chapter of Proverbs that says: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." What I mean by that scriptural reference is that I felt so good about how well we did yesterday, that I was unprepared for the ass-whooping we took today. We lost 3-0. Sure, the other team had to work for it, but to say that my girls played like CRAP wouldn't be an understatement.
They were bloody awful.
They were contact averse, they were taking their time on the field, they were kicking the ball in the WRONG DIRECTION. In short, they did everything the opposite of the way they did it the day before.
It was truly painful to watch. My goalies did a fine job. They worked hard and stopped lots of shots... unfortunately, there were just too many shots on goal allowed by the rest of the girls.
They ain't gonna be happy at practice Thursday, believe me.
Coach Gunfighter ain't havin' ANY of this crap next week!
10 comments:
He's not exaggerating AT ALL! They seemed to be completely incapable to kicking it toward the right goal. Especially trying that it was Sunday so swearing had to be kept to a minimum...I'm traumatized.
I won't even begin to describe what happened when the boys' team of mostly first graders went up against a team of mostly third graders. Who were coached by a guy from Scotland.
The lone goal by our team was at least set up by one of my guys. He was pretty proud of that.
Sorry about your weekend coach. Could it been that they were tired? They are under 10.
Sorry about the snoring last night, sweetie!
Ahem.
SMID,
I'm pretty certain that fatigue was the main reason for their malaise... which is exactly why I am going to run them hard on Thursday... gotta build up their stamina.
Oh, this reminds me of my soccer days...though I'm glad my dad never coached me because he was the "nice" coach, perfect for under 8s.
Sorry to hear about the game..give 'em hell at practice!
That's too bad about the loss, but I'm sure you'll make sure they get right at the next game!
Did you hear about the 6 year old girl who died during her soccer game this weekend? It was in my parents' town. One of the parents (an MD) on the field who tried to revive her recounted feeling helpless at their church the next morning.
All the area soccer leagues are pretty shaken up.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/09/24/belmont_is_shaken_by_death_of_girl_6/?p1=MEWell_Pos2
Remember coach - and I know you do - it is just a game.
It must have been so frustrating to watch them and wonder where the great skill went! Hopefully they'll get hopping on Thursday.
That story about the little girl is so tragic. :( Her poor parents!!
Poor kids... I know the reason for their level of play was fatigue... but knowing it and processing it as they do EVERYTHING you told them NOT to do was tough to take.
I realize it's just a game, and I am not a lunatic sports parent.... but I've seen them, trust me.
What a great coach!! I love your reference to proverbs/Dickens with the victory.
LOL. This brings back many memories. You would have been ready to whup my DS - he used to lie on the field and look up at the clouds. We removed him from soccer quite quickly ;-) He was just in another universe altogether.
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