They Rocked!

Yesterday the game commenced on a soccer field that sloped toward our goal. The wind was in our faces and the hail was coming down in a blizzard flurry! Faces were pelted with little white bullets of cold. The wind forced tears from the corners of our eyes. The age 10 and under boys teams took the field with wind chill factor of 20 some degrees. Parents stood on the sidelines -- it was too cold to sit in chairs.

The opposing team took the lead with authority and we were being mercied 6-1 in the first half. (This means that when you are losing by 5 goals the other team must pull a player from the field to keep it from being an utter slaughter.) I told the boys on the sidelines that we could come back. They looked at me like I was a mad woman and one even said "Why bother?"

I pep talked them. I told them they were tough. I told them I believed in them. I told them I could smell goals coming. I cheered myself hoarse and watched our boys play with heart. The break between the halves allowed a pep talk that reminded them they now had the advantage of the wind and slope. Our soldiers bravely took the field and faced down their opponents. The next thing you know we started to score goals!!

Our guys fought back and the other team got to put their player back on the field when we cut their lead down to 4. We then came back. Our guys scored and scored again. I had to yell to them to hurry and line up following the goals -- our goalie kept crossing the midfield line to join the forwards in celebration. They hustled and they played with heart.

Wonder Boy played with enthusiasm. He cheered on his team and was one of the boys. He kept with the crowd and was a member of the team now. He was part of it and made great plays. He passed the ball and it was pass to him. Our boys all found their spirit and fought back. They tied the score 7-7 with about 1 minute remaining.

It was a close battle which ended in a tie. We celebrated like we'd won a major match! The boys jumped about screaming and yelling. I jumped up and down whooping it up. After shaking hands they ran to our sideline and I cheered for them and told them how proud I was of them. Every single one of them high fived me on their way to snacks.

Yesterday was the kind of game you dread in terms of weather and time of day. Week day games are a killer on the family schedule. I didn't want to go. I dreaded it. It turned out to be our most exciting and fun game of the season. It was THE BEST! I'm so grateful.

These are the memories we will share when we are old and sitting in our rockers on the front porch. We will rock gently, smile, and remember the boys who went from being the worst team (for 4 years no less) to being a solid and respectable team of heart. We are so blessed that hubby is coaching this team and that I'm the assistant coach. Sure, I'm sick and I'm tired -- but I would not trade this for anything.

This was the best!