2-2

Our fourth game of the year came one day after having a day off of school. We still had practice, but only 8 kids came. I actually called 12 or so and reminded them about practice but still only 8 came. Yuk.

Once my day settled down and I had a chance to check attendance and my practice records, I found that I had 12 kids in school and eligible to play. After checking the detention log, I found that I had nine kids who would be ready to go when we dismissed the team. The three in detention had rides arranged to bring them straight from detention to the game. But, 20 minutes before the end of the school day one of my 8th graders came to my office to tell me he could not play because he was in trouble at home.

So at dismissal, 8 players and I got in our vehicles and headed to the game. Our field was much closer than past fields and we actually beat our opponents in getting there. As we approached the field it was apparent that it had not been mowed in probably 3+ weeks and the lines (though painted in place) were next to invisible.

I was glad to get a good warm-up period that allowed us to pass, work on touches and get our keeper some practice saves. Two of the three in detention even showed up with enough time to warm-up. As our start time approached their coach approached me to let me know the head coach was still on his way with another load of their kids. He then asked me if I knew anything about the official. Oh boy.

Their other coach showed up with another 10 kids or so, they warmed up for a couple more minutes and I volunteered to officiate the game (using the whistle I had in my bag and my cell phone to track the time). Our last player went home sick after detention so we played 10-on-11. We were pretty evenly matched up except for two of their players who had apparently played before and could dribble well. Within four minutes of the start we were down 2-0. We settled down a little but found ourselves down 3-0 with only a couple minutes to play in the first half. Their two best players were playing midfield and sometimes moved up far enough to score, but behind them their defenders were tiny guys who clearly had not played a lot of soccer. Right before halftime we were able to punch one through to trail 3-1.

At halftime I did my best to convince the team we were not tired. With no subs and only a couple fans present, they had to draw energy from one another. Our keeper had played really timid in the first half and I kept imploring him to charge at the opponent when they broke through the defense. He started doing this in the second half and spooked their main player three times into missing his shots badly. Three other times he completely blocked hard kicked balls, it was exciting to watch.

In the second half everyone else stepped up their game too. We attacked and attacked and fell back when we needed. The field was a regulation field so it was clear that our kids were getting tired but they kept add it. We scored 10 minutes into the half and then again with 6 minutes to go. We had found our second wind! Both teams went back and forth until about a minute left when their best player got the ball alone in just outside of the goalie's box and put a beautiful shot on goal that went right over our keeper's outstretched arms and below the top bar on the goal. Any higher it would have hit the goal and any lower and our keeper gets it. It was just a good shot. We had a minute left but were unable to get a legitimate attack going in that amount of time. Final score: 4-3.

No one on the team felt bad, tired for sure, but not bad. We had played down a player the whole game with no subs and had almost pulled it out. Now if we can just carry that attitude and effort (and better attendance) over into our practices our last couple of weeks might go really well.

*****

Earlier in the day I was explaining to one of our sixth graders that he could not play in the game because he had not been to a practice in well over a week. He told me straight faced, "I scored a goal in the first game, I don't need no practice."