Archive for Soccer

Date night

Posted in Family with tags , , on December 3, 2008 by macmystery

A couple Saturday’s ago, I actually got to have dinner with my wife.

Just my wife.

For the first time since January.

It wasn’t the first time we’d been without the kids. We went to a Press Association awards banquet in February, but that was with a bunch of people.

Since Ella was born in January, we hadn’t managed to enjoy a nice meal just between the two of us.

The parents on the soccer team we coached (once again using that term loosely) pitched in at the end of the season and bought us a gift certificate to a decent restaurant nearby to show us their appreciation (mainly their appreciation that they didn;t have to coach).

So we convinced Brooke’s parents to take the kids for a couple of hours, and we had a date. We had conversation and we didn’t have to police anyone.

The food wasn’t quite what we’d hoped for, but I don’t think it mattered. It was the chance to eat like adults that was important.

I just hope it’s not another 10 months before we get the chance to do it again.

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The thrill of victory

Posted in Family, Sports with tags , , , on October 5, 2008 by macmystery
Brayson, left, and Dylan, right, compete in the traditional soccer ritual of fighting over a tree branch.

Brayson, left, and Dylan, right, compete in the traditional soccer ritual of fighting over a tree branch.

About two months ago, my wife signed our son Dylan up for AYSO soccer for the fall season. But when she did so, she also signed us up to coach. Yikes.

I spent as much time playing or watching soccer in my youth as I did learning to write sanskrit.

Anyway, there was nothing I could do about it (except moan and whine a little), so I’ve tried to make the best of it. Brooke is listed as the head coach, so all of the responsibility isn’t on me, thank goodness.

We have 5 kids, ages 4-6. And we struggled early on.

Eventually, we gave up on drills and tried to just let them play. It didn’t do much good to worry about what they were learning if they hadn’t grasped the basic concepts of which direction they were trying to take the ball, passing to teammates, scoring and not letting the opposition score.

So after the first game was a disaster, the guys have slowly improved.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s still the occasional on-field breakdown. We’ve had players walk off to hug a parent mid game, and Dylan and Brayson, my nephew, have actually fought over a tree branch during a game. That’s not that hard to believe, seeing as how the two of them them have to be separated for hugging and wrestling each other when they are on the field together.

Last week, though we aren’t supposed to keep score at this age group (there are also no goalies), we almost finished in a tie, missing our last shot off the post as the game ended.

A step forward.

This week, however, was a breakthrough. We’re not supposed to keep score, but let’s just say, we had somewhere between 5 and 7 and the other guys had somewhere between 3 and 5. And even though the reason we don’t keep score is to ensure it’s all about having fun and learning the game for the kids at this level, don’t think they didn’t realize what was going on.

They knew. And the post-game snacks were a little tastier Saturday.

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I’ve been railroaded … soccer style

Posted in Family, Sports with tags , on August 8, 2008 by macmystery

Dylan is playing AYSO soccer this fall, his second season. His first was this spring.

But this time around, when Brooke signed him up, she signed us both up to be coaches. I wasn’t there. i couldn’t stop it. By the time I was even aware of what had happened, I was committed.

As a child, I played a lot of baseball, organized and not so organized. I played pick-up football. Some basketball. Heck, I even raced bicycles with the kids in the neighborhood.

But I can probably count on my two hands the times in my life I’ve played soccer. And now I’m coaching.

What has she gotten me into?

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