F³A: Life of a Soccer Mom

Okay, I'm not only a soccer mom, I'm a soccer team assistant coach and manager.  When we practice, we play hard.  Right now we're playing indoor so we go to the middle school and practice in the basketball court.  We call it, cage soccer.

The older and better these girls get, the harder it is to keep up.  When we started this team, they were fourth graders, well, now at 13, many of them are taller than me, and they're all definitely tougher than me.

Last night I got kicked in the foot, pummeled in the thigh and gut, and had two near misses to my face (I've been hit square in the face, believe me, it hurts like hell)  Oh, and I got knocked down right on my back on the concrete.  Good times.

This morning my arm is sore, my back aches, and I pretty much hurt all over.  So, why do I do it?  Because I love it.  We've been together so long I love these girls as if they were my own.  Every time I get injured, I play it up and make them laugh.  Of course, if I continue, I could be dead soon.  I can see the obit now.  Megan Bostic passed away suddenly when she was pummeled with a soccer ball one to many times.

On a side note, I'm coming along on my pass pages, my ARC's will be out soon, and my novel is on Netgalley for all you review bloggers.

Random iPod shuffle song: For the First Time by The Script, one of my favorite new bands.


DVD of the Week: Weird Science, going to watch it this weekend with my girls.

Book of the Week:  Deadline by Chris Crutcher, still reading, still liking.

Quote of the Week: "Live under the sun, love under the moon."  I have no idea where this quote comes from.  I saw it on a sign.

An Update of a Different Kind.

Select soccer.  

Thing One's coach approached me last week after practice.  He had told the parents about some tournaments the teams were going to be doing during the summer, but both teams couldn't be at the same tournaments because there wasn't enough players to fill both teams yet.

So after practice, he told me he would definitely by taking Mary to the tournaments with the A team.  He also said when picking teams, she was right on the bubble.  He went on to say that had he not enough for both an A and B team, Mary would have made the team.  Yet, since there were two teams, he took physically stronger kids on the A team and left Mary on the B team for a couple of reasons.

1) Mary will get as much playing time as she wants on the B team, whereas on the A team, she would be fighting for playing time.

2) Playing that much would prepare her better for high school soccer, which he knew she wanted to play.

I think he gave viable reasons, and we felt better about the decision.  Since more has come up though.  Will update when the time is right.

Oh, select soccer, why do you torture me so? 

Ciao,

Megan

The Life of a Soccer Mom

Soccer season is already upon us and it's time once again for me to take on the role of "Soccer Mom". Some of you are thinking this is not a great undertaking, aren't you? Well, that could not be further from the truth. Tonight, life as I know it is going to change for the next nine months.

This started last Saturday, when my girls decided to try out for select teams. One U12, one U14. Unfortunately, my younger daughter rolled her ankle an hour and a half into the tryout, and had to leave early. The older one excelled, putting everything she's got into her passing, running, proving her enduring, speed, and skill.

Being a two day tryout, we thought maybe daughter #2 (Rachel) still had a chance, so we taped her ankle and sent her back out. Unfortunately, it was obvious to us, as well as the coaches I'm sure, that she was favoring the unhurt leg, so most of her shooting and passing was done with her left foot (which she is pretty good at), and her speed wasn't up to par. Daughter #1 excelled once again with her speed and accuracy.

And then we wait. The U12 team was posted that night, and as we thought, Rachel was not on the list, though one of her friends, and former team mate was.

We had to wait until Monday night to hear back from the U14 team. I got the call on my cell phone, that Mary was in.

Next, dealing with disappointment and jealousy. I think she's okay, she still has a team that her dad coaches, which is another story all itself.

So, we've never played select, but costs and commitment are much more than rec. Uniforms, warm ups, ball bags, tournaments, travel. Two nights a week for practices, come September, Saturdays are gone for games, in which we travel up to about 40 miles for, with a few weekends in between for tourneys in WA and OR. And that's just for the one team.

Once Rachel's team starts, it's four nights a week and all day Saturdays. We'll have to split time with Rusty coaching Rachel, which scares the hell out of me, because I hate driving long distances, thank God for Garmin.

But that's not all. I am the team manager for Rusty's team, Thunder. It starts with e-mails, then on to paperwork, forms, money, planning fund raisers, talking to the park district, updating the website, making snack schedule, keeping stats, planning the party, ordering trophies, and socks, planning camps, sending reminder e-mails about games and snack and party. Plus, I've tie dyes socks and uniforms for the last three years (yes I'm crazy) It's a full time job.

And don't even get me started about my car. Aside from having to fill it with gas every other day, it's also stuffed to the gills with balls, cones, pennies, first aid kits, water, cleats, etc. etc.

Just talking about it is making me tired. It's just the beginning right now. If you don't see me until next January, you know where I'll be. On the pitch.