of the thrill of victory!

I'm a soccer dad and I'm OK with it.  (I grew up playing basketball and still hold out hope that one of my children will have an interest in learning how to play basketball.)  Tonight was a beautiful night for soccer.  Slight breeze, perfect temp.  Simon falls asleep in the car on the way to the game because he missed his nap, oh wait...that's not all that fun, because Wendy's at work so I'm flying solo. 

Molly has seen her fair share of the "agony of defeat" in her young soccer career.  She's grown so frustrated with it at times that she's wanted to quit.  This year she's moved up from YMCA Spirit soccer to a more competitive (i.e. expensive) league.  Some things have changed...more time in the car driving across town to practice, some things have stayed the same...continuing to lose on a consistent basis.

The season did not start out very good.  The team was few in numbers.  They have a core of 9 players, which meant they had 1 sub.  The first few games were not pretty, but they were encouraging.  There were moments where the girls were playing good soccer, nice passes, good communication, but they'd get tired and things were start to break down at that point.  Thankfully they were able to get a couple secondary players to come play with them and provide some extra relief. 

One thing their coach has stressed from the very beginning was that they would be working on "technical" first and then "tactical."  They have been building to this point all season.  The games were becoming more and more competitive.  They even had a sizable lead one game only to lose it as they broke down due to fatigue.  That game ended in a tie.  The next game they won.  And tonight they shut the other team out, and were fairly dominate on both sides of the ball.  They continued to communicate.  They passed the ball.  They received AND followed their coaching.  Molly even scored the first goal!

The girls receiving some halftime instruction from coach.

Sure winning isn't everything, but it sure does make the ride home from the game more enjoyable!  I am happy for the girls.  They have worked hard all season and put it all together for their last game of the season.  It is a beautiful thing to see your child doing well and enjoying themselves competing.  

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