Saturday broke hot and steamy. The sun was relentless and it beat down on us as early as ten a.m. while we set up our gear. We were behind an industrial park surround by hill and vale and soccer field upon soccer field. The flocks of girls coloured the fields. We set up our chairs, coolers and umbrellas, ready for the onslaught of games for the day. Game after game our girl persevered. She ran and kicked and ran some more. In between runs the coach spritzed the girls with water. Some teams had tents donated by their sponsors. Others took cover in the bush to the far side of the fields. By four p.m. the porta-potty had run out of toilet paper and there was....well, lets just say it was out of order. The games were hard and the girls were strong. There were collisions and bumps and bruises. Some intentional. Most were not. How do I know? The games were peppered with "whoopsie!" and "Oh! I'm sorry" and "Are you OK?". The girls tournament would have gone much faster for the seconds spent reassuring each other. The girls really knew how to play, but it was a pleasant surprise to hear that they were still delicate and thoughtful enough to apologize to each other. Or maybe Canadian enough?!
Me with Maggie and her trophy.
Today the heat still sat over the fields. The sun hid behind the clouds and the sky was grey. Once again we came, we set up coolers and chairs and umbrellas. This time we hoped the rain would stay away. The boys were playing today. They ran, they kicked, they fumbled and fell. There were bumps and bruises and knocks. There were goalies hanging like monkeys from the goal posts and boys cartwheeling around the fields. This time though, there was less chatter. Instead the games lost seconds from boys stopping to lend a helping hand up. One team unfortunately lacked a sense of fair play. They threw grass, whined and threw out "In your face!" with each goal. Fortunately (thanks to karma) they didn't come away the champions.
Overall, my kids came away one with a trophy, one with a medal both with a shining example of teamwork, grace and sportsmanship.
Dylan with the ball.
Not much writing, but a lot to write home about!
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