It's Soccer Time...

Yes, I'm a soccer mom. Both of my girls started playing on a competitive league when they were 8 or 9. They absolutely love the game. I knew nothing about it, but have sure learned alot in the last 10 years. When Riff and I met, we just added more soccer to our lives, as he coached the team that Kevin had been playing on for alot of years. Riff's brother Ron was on the soccer board at that time and Ron and Carols son, Nick, also played. Riff played in college for a year until he blew his knee up at the ripe old age of 19. Living in Wyoming, where towns are few and FAR between, we traveled hours each weekend to watch our kids play. For certain months of the year, especially when we had three kids playing, we ate and breathed soccer. Sometimes, they would all be in different towns scattered widely across the state. I was SO glad when they were done with the competitive leagues and could play on the high school teams. I know this is sick to admit, but I actually miss it sometimes.
The comradarie of the other parents, laughing, cheering and groaning together. The sunburns, the windburns, the snow blindness, sometimes received all in one game! The days of freezing under blankets on the sidelines as our kids ran around in shorts and jerseys. The subway sandwiches consumed on the sidelines, the gallons and gallons of gatoraide it takes to sustain the teams. (Why did I never buy stock in Gatoraide?)

Brittany and Kevin are both 19 now, out of school and no longer playing soccer. Shilo has missed the last two years. Last year she had a terrible case of Mono in August and wasn't released to due anything physical until mid-October. The year before, we moved here to Oregon in March where soccer is a fall sport. In Wyoming it is on the spring line-up, so she missed it in both places that year. Poor girl, she was devastated about it.

For not being able to play for two years, I think she has done really well this year. She was going to physical therapy this summer for some scoliosis and was also diagnosed with asthma this summer. She is done with the therapy for now and jumped into soccer practice with gusto. She is a junior this year, so of course wanted to make varsity. She didn't, but did make Captain of the JV team and has already been told that she will get some varsity playing time. I think that is great for everything that she has overcome this year. It's amazing that she is out there at all. She is giving it her all, which most people in her place would not even try to do.

Shilo's first soccer game of the year was today. They got whooped 7-0. She came home with a bloody lip after tripping over someone else's foot. She was going for a goal and fell over one of the other teams defense. She said it was one of those falls that happen in slow motion- first the knees hit the ground, then the stomach and suddenly you have planted your face right in the dirt, which kicked her legs back up in the air. Pretty comical, actually, since she's not hurt. They played several hours away from home, so we were not able to go this time. Work just gets in the way of the things I want and need to do! I am very excited for their first home game next friday. Sounds like they need to get their heads in it a little better for next week. They can do it...

Go Astoria Fisherman...(Or is it Fisherwomen??)