First Soccer Game

We had our first soccer game this morning.  Of course I didn't know the batteries in the camera were dead until we got to the field, so no pictures, no videos.  That meant Rae could be the spectating soccer mom and enjoy watching and cheering rather than worrying about capturing the moment.  We'll hopefully have pictures/video of Game 2, tomorrow (yes, we play nearly every Saturday and Sunday through October).

The game was fun and certainly an experience.  Yeah, it's herdball.  Yeah, it's a lot of shouting encouragement, instruction and "watch the ball!".  I was hoarse by half-time (my allergies weren't helping either).  We were playing a team of boys that had obviously had more practice than we did, to the point that they were playing space and running set plays on corner kicks (no kidding).  Still, the Wild Cats really worked hard to hold their own.  Four of the ten ran up and down the field for the full game.  They were completely wiped by the time the final whistle blew.  I had a few that would really rather not be there and were hardly paying attention, then I had the rest that were willing if not entirely able.  Still, most of them listened really well, hustled after the ball, and really looked like they were having fun (if not entirely sure of what they were doing).

We only had a couple incidents of trips, scuffed knees and balls off heads or chests.  I had two that were more upset at getting knocked than really got hurt, but that was all it took.  For a while we were playing one and even two players down.  The other coach was cool about it and pulled a player off the field so it wasn't so lopsided.  That was nice, he didn't really have to.  We got one back on the field, but didn't have any subs for the second half.  That's where the kids really wore out.

M was great.  She's one of the top-4 players on the team - that run fast, can dribble and kick, and listened and wanted to get in the mix and get the ball.  She had one almost-goal but she didn't follow up her shot and let the goalie pick it up instead of giving it another kick.  But man, she hustled, and she's fast, and with a bit more practice and experience, she won't hesitate to mix it up and take the ball where she wants it to go.  She also played goalie the last quarter, and really did well.  She had two solid stops, where it was all on her to break up the drive (I don't want to tell you where the rest of her team was), and had several stops where she got right in the scrum and picked up the ball.  She did get scored on twice, but again these were pretty much break away shots and I can't really blame her for not stopping them.

All in all I was very proud of the girls.  We had three or four almost-goals, and I think with a bit of practice and knowing that they should follow up their shots (it's not like the other team's goalie was really any better than ours, we just let him pick it up) I think we'll start scoring more.  They all hustled for the first quarter or two, and you could tell they were pooped by half-time and there after, then it was enough just to keep them around the ball.  After one goal, all four of my attackers were panting, hands on hips, and I told them all I'd walk the ball up to the center slowly, taking my time so they could catch their breath.  A couple of them smiled like they knew what I was trying to get away with.  One of the refs (a young boy, they're all young kids starting out refereeing preschoolers) said, "Any time you're ready coach" to which I replied, "I'll get there, it's my girls who aren't ready yet" and we took our time getting set.  It was all I could do to field 7 players at a time, never mind having them fall over from exhaustion.

We have our second game tomorrow afternoon, and I already know 2 girls who won't be at the game, so we'll be playing without subs again.  We'll see how it goes.  I've got the batteries charging, so hopefully there will be pictures.