Thursday, October 04, 2007

The Rest of My Birthday

The coolest thing happened on my birthday. Well, it was cool for me, anyway. The reserve soccer team was supposed to have a game my birthday evening, but the opponent didn't show up. Now, if you know me, you know that coaching soccer (though I like it) is a cheap substitute for playing soccer. Though I'd rather coach than watch, I'd rather play than coach 10 times out of 10.


Anyway, after having a little conference, we coaches decided that since the kids were already dressed and warmed up, and since they have fewer games than the varsity team has, they should get to play. So we set up a scrimmage: reserve starters against everyone else (including non-starters, coaches, and a couple of varsity players who showed up).


After sorting out where everyone usually plays (or wanted to play), I took left midfield (I'd rather play central, but there were already several people wanting that spot). What made that position difficult was that our left fullback was man-marking one of their players, and that player drifted all over the field. So it boiled down to me playing touch-line to touch-line.


What made that position especially fun was that it was right in front of the bleachers, and there were quite a few parents and friends who stuck around to watch the scrimmage (not that I really even noticed them once we started - but they had a great time. They seemed to especially like when Coach was way outnumbered in back and was calling out, "HELP!").


I made some nice passes, and though my shots on goal were off the mark (one outside, the others saved by the keeper), it was a lot of fun - that was a great birthday present for me!

2 comments:

Thoughts From Jeff said...

Very Cool.

I almost hate to admit that when I took Isaiah out on Saturday to practice that I enjoyed the 200 kicks so he could practice his goalie skills.

Shhhhhh

I loved playing intramural in college.

(back to the closet)

Derek said...

Stay out of the closet, Jeff. Viva la revolućion!!!

Brian, I envy you. That would've been awesome fun. With my knee issues, I'm just reduced to making 13-15 year olds look bad from time to time.